


Finding Us

by HonorH



Series: Being Us [2]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Original Character Death(s), Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-31
Updated: 2016-09-26
Packaged: 2018-07-28 13:11:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 34,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7641775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HonorH/pseuds/HonorH
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Will and Nico's relationship isn't always easy, but it's worth it, especially when an attack at Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-Blood results in devastating loss.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Festus Express Goes to New Rome

**Author's Note:**

> This is a continuation of my previous story "Becoming Us," and it'll probably be easier to understand some of the things in this one if you read it first. However, if you can't be bothered to, I won't hold it against you.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Festus Express arrives in New Rome; Nico is a hunk; Hazel gets the Vapors; Earth's Mightiest Heroes have a picnic; and Butch has a very unwelcome surprise for them.

The Festus Express was headed to California.

Trying to find a reasonably fast way between Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter had not been easy. There were some routes through the Labyrinth, but they were unreliable. Mortal transportation could be problematic.

Leo, once he’d gotten some breathing space, had a bright idea. He and the Hephaestus cabin created a type of barge that Festus could tow. It was spacious, large enough to comfortably carry up to twenty demigods, there were ballistae on the sides in case of emergencies, it had a backup gliding system in case Festus had to detach, and, of course, there was a meal and beverage service.

Leo had taken it on its maiden voyage alone just four days ago, a test flight from Camp Half-Blood to Camp Jupiter with only Percy and Annabeth as passengers/backup in case of trouble. The trip had gone smoothly, as had his return trip with twenty Romans in tow. Now, they were headed back with representatives from almost every cabin at Camp Half-Blood, as well as a few satyrs, including Grover Underwood. The trip was about eight hours, longer than a commercial flight, but the seats were comfortable, the interior was roomy enough to walk around in, and the Hephaestus cabin had rigged the barge with in-flight entertainment.

“He turned his dragon into public transportation,” said Nico, looking out the forward window to where Leo and Calypso sat on Festus.

Will Solace chuckled. “That’s Leo for you.”

Nico shook his head and looked back at the interior of the barge. Clovis was snoozing in his chair, and he appeared to have affected Ellis Wakefield and Butch Walker, who were both snoring alongside him. Cecil, Lou Ellen and Billie Ng from Demeter were playing a card game. Nico pitied Billie; playing against a witch and a Hermes child had to be an exercise in frustration. Grover was attempting to broker peace between Damien White and Chiara Benvenuti, who were apparently “off” again. Other campers were sitting around eating, reading, or quietly talking.

“What’s Chiara calling Damien now?” Will asked.

“Let’s just say she doesn’t think much of Damien’s face, ancestry, and probable sexual preferences.” Nico smirked at his boyfriend. “How many drachma do you want to wager that they’ll be making out before we reach Camp Jupiter?”

“Not taking that bet.”

“Smart boy.”

Nico looked out the window again, nerves stirring in his stomach. What with one thing and another (aka The Whole Apollo Situation, which seemed to be fairly stable at the moment; Apollo and wild child Meg McCaffrey were currently recuperating from their latest adventures at Camp Half-Blood), he hadn’t gotten a chance to visit Hazel since the war with Gaea. They talked regularly, but he felt like his relationship with Will was something he should tell her about in person. He didn’t know how she’d react, and it scared him.

“It’ll be fine, Nico. She loves you,” Will murmured, sensitive as always to Nico’s moods.

“I wish you weren’t so . . . empathic.” Belying his words, Nico leaned into Will a little, savoring his warmth.

Nico still wasn’t big on public displays of affection, something Will took in stride. The two of them hadn’t gone beyond fairly chaste expressions of affection in private, for that matter. Nico had gotten over a lot of his aversion to being touched, at least with those he was closest to, but he wasn’t ready for anything like a sexual relationship. Not yet.

“It’s fine,” Will had assured him more than once. “I’m happy to take it slow, too. I had to grow up fast after Michael’s death; I’m not in a race to get anywhere. We’re us, right?”

Us. Nico still loved the thought of that. He and Will didn’t always have the easiest relationship, but they were making it work. Will put up with Nico’s dark moods; Nico put up with Will’s incessant cheerfulness. They teased and bickered to the point that Lou Ellen once threw up her hands in despair, saying, “You two may be boyfriends, but you’re still such _boys_!” Translated from Lou Ellen-speak, she had a point. It was true that there was something almost competitive in the way they interacted. 

But there was a gentler side to their relationship as well. Nico was learning to let Will in when he fell into an emotional pit. They’d developed a kind of silent language when things got especially bad. There was a quiet place not far from the lake where they would go and sit together. Sometimes, Nico would talk; sometimes, he would cry; and sometimes, they would simply sit quietly together. Nico refused to describe anything he did as “cuddling,” but there were times when he felt the need to be closer than usual to his boyfriend, who happily obliged, and if a curious onlooker happened to think they were cuddling, well, it was all in the perception, wasn’t it?

It bothered Nico that Will took on so much of the emotional burden of their relationship. The only time Nico had gotten to do anything similar for him was when Will broke down in his cabin after Austin and Kayla were kidnapped. Emotional support just wasn’t his forte. He wanted something he could stab. He had defended Will physically a few times, but he still felt that Will did a lot more for him.

And here was Will being there for him again. Nico set aside his issues with PDAs and took Will’s hand. 

After about another hour, Leo’s voice came over the PA system. “Passengers, this is El Capitan Leo speaking. We are coming in for a landing at Camp Jupiter, so if Butch would be so kind as to take the controls in the barge, we can hopefully set you down with a minimum of casualties. _Adios!_ ”

Will had shaken Butch awake a few minutes earlier, and the big Iris camper was ready when Festus disconnected from the barge. Down on the field that had been designated as their landing area, a couple of Romans waved red flags, and Butch skillfully glided the barge to a stop between them.

***

Piper held Jason’s hand tightly, excited to see her friends from Camp Half-Blood again. The day before, she’d pretty much shoved Percy out of the way so she could hug – no, envelop – Annabeth. According to Percy, their squeals had probably confused every dolphin and porpoise from California to Alaska. While Annabeth was her closest friend, though, Piper was still looking forward to seeing the other Greeks that had come from the camp. Especially Nico. He’d called her a few times to ask for advice about his relationship with Will, and she couldn’t wait to see the two of them together. The Festus Express doors opened, people started coming out, and . . .

“Oh, my gods,” Piper blurted. “Is that Nico?”

Jason, who’d been joshing with Percy, executed a perfect triple-take. “Whoa!”

The son of Hades had changed dramatically between the last time she’d seen him and now. He’d been just starting to get healthy last fall. And now . . .

He’d added at least two inches, possibly three, to his height. He was still slim, but his frame had filled out with lean muscle. His facial structure had matured. His skin was an actual color. His shoulder-length hair was thick and glossy. He was, in a word, hot.

“Nico! Li’l bro!” called Jason. Nico spotted him and smiled. Not a huge smile, but he was obviously happy to see them. When Jason approached, it was Nico who initiated a hug.

Piper settled for hugging Will first. “He looks so good!” she whispered in the healer’s ear.

“Don’t tell anyone. I want to keep him for myself,” Will whispered back.

When it was Piper’s turn to hug Nico, his face softened further. “Thanks for all the advice, Piper.”

“Anytime.” She realized Nico had almost caught up to her in height. She pulled back and looked at him. “Nico, you look . . . wow!” She couldn’t help herself and ran her fingers through his hair. “Hey, are you conditioning?”

Nico started to look a little hunted. “Well, it’s impossible to brush it if I don’t, so . . .” He pushed her hands away, blushing. “Stop that.”

“Sorry. It’s just – you’ve turned into a hunk!”

Will burst into laughter, and Nico’s blush deepened. Jason slung an arm around Will’s shoulders.

“You know, Will, as Nico’s self-designated overprotective big brother figure, it would normally be my duty to give you the ol’ shovel speech about now. You’re familiar with the shovel speech, right?”

Will rolled his eyes. “Something along the lines of, ‘You hurt him, no one will ever find your body,’ right?”

“That’s the one. However, seeing as, one, Nico has a little sister who’ll probably be sticking her _spatha_ in your face at some point; two, you seem to be really good for him, judging by how he looks; and three, my girlfriend gave me a shovel speech of her own about what she’d do if I threatened you, we’ll just put that one in abeyance for now, okay?”

“Excellent idea. Fistbump?”

“Fistbump.” Jason and Will bonked their knuckles together.

“Hey, speaking of Hazel, where is she?” Nico asked.

“Probably just getting off the practice field,” said Jason. “You guys were a little earlier than we expected. She’ll be here soon, I’m sure. She’s been so excited about you coming here.”

As if to punctuate this, a voice called, “Nico!” Hazel pushed her way through the crowd.

Nico’s face lit up, and it was a beautiful thing. He scooped his sister into a hug, lifting her off the ground.

“I’ve missed you, little sister,” Piper heard him say. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t visit until now.”

“Oh, I’ve missed you, too.” Hazel was sniffling a little as Nico set her down. “Wow, you look good! You’ve grown.”

“So have you.” Nico dropped a kiss on Hazel’s forehead. The Underworld siblings appeared to have grown almost the same amount, and their respective heights weren’t much different than they had been before.

They were still quite a contrast. Nico’s complexion wasn’t dead white anymore, but he was still pale compared to Hazel. Her rich, warm tones made him seem stripped of color, especially his eyes, which reminded Piper of something you might see in a black-and-white manga. Somehow, though, they didn’t seem as cold as they had before.

“Ah, Hazel, did you meet Will Solace last summer?” Nico asked, and Piper heard the undertone of nervousness in his voice. She knew Nico was worried about how Hazel would react to their relationship. Personally, Piper was sure he had nothing to worry about. “He’s the head of the Apollo cabin.”

Hazel shook Will’s hand with a smile. “Didn’t meet you personally, but Nico’s mentioned you, and any friend of Nico’s is a friend of mine. I know you impressed some of our healers here, too.”

“Whatever Nico said about me bullying him back to good health, it’s an absolute truth,” said Will, giving Hazel his sunniest smile. “This guy’s impossible, you know that?”

“I’m glad he’s got someone to look after him,” she said with a pointed look at her brother.

Nico gave Will a dirty look. “He’s annoying, but he occasionally has a point. Hey, speaking of annoying, where’s Frank?”

Hazel elbowed him. “He has praetor stuff to do. You’ll see him soon enough.”

“Do you have some time to catch up?” Nico asked.

“Of course I do. Wanna walk?”

“That’d be great.” Nico waved to his friends. “Hazel and I will see you guys at dinner, okay?”

“Later, Nico.” Will rubbed his hands together. “So, who wants to show me to the medical facilities here?”

***

Hazel and Nico wandered, Hazel chatting about her centurion duties, Nico telling her about some of the things that had happened at Camp Half-Blood over the course of the past year. Soon, Nico realized they were headed for New Rome and pulled Hazel off-course.

“Let’s not go up past the Pomeranian Line just yet, okay?” said Nico. “I have something for you that could make it, um, problematic.”

“Ooh, presents!”

Nico laid down the duffel he’d been carrying and opened it. From it, he removed a sword and scabbard, which he presented to Hazel.

“Nico . . .” Hazel took the sword, eyes wide and mouth open. “It’s beautiful!”

It was a Stygian iron _spatha_ , its hilt wrapped in Imperial gold wire, and the symbol of Pluto, also Imperial gold, set into the blade near the hilt. Hazel pulled it from its scabbard and tested its heft and balance.

“I had it made for you in the Underworld. I thought you should have a sword worthy of a child of Pluto. If it feels right to you, of course.”

Hazel’s golden eyes glittered. “It does. It feels . . . like it’s part of my arm, you know?”

Nico nodded, pleased with his gift’s reception. “Then it’s yours.”

“Thank you. So much.” Hazel sheathed the sword. “I can’t wait to use it in combat. Er, war games, you know?”

“Of course.”

They continued walking. Nico’s stomach was churning. He knew he had to tell her; he just didn’t know how. “How are you and Frank doing?” he finally asked.

“We’re fine. We don’t get a lot of time together, with his duties and mine, but we try to have a date once a week, at least. He’s very much a gentleman.” Her lips twisted a little. “I have a feeling Reyna has said a few words to him about our age difference and taking things slowly.”

“Good for her,” Nico muttered.

Hazel punched him in the shoulder. “Don’t you get started, too. You know what we need to do? We need to find you someone special.”

This was it, then. Nico braced himself and said, “Ah, Hazel? There actually is someone special . . .”

Hazel’s mouth and eyes widened to truly comical proportions. “There is? Do tell! Is she anyone I’ve met?”

 _She_. Part of Nico’s brain frantically searched for a way out of this conversation. Part of it desperately hoped for a monster attack. But he knew this conversation had to happen sooner or later.

He took a deep breath and plunged right in. “I, uh, actually just introduced you two.” Hazel’s brow wrinkled in puzzlement, as if she were replaying the last half-hour and searching for female faces. “Hazel . . . Will Solace and I aren’t just friends. He’s – he’s my boyfriend.”

“Oh!” Hazel squeaked. She didn’t look repulsed or disgusted, but she did look very, very surprised. “Oh. Oh, my.” She turned sideways to Nico, fanning her face with her hand.

It wasn’t the worst reaction she could’ve had, but it certainly wasn’t what Nico had hoped for when he dared to hope.

“Please, Hazel, I know it’s – it’s not something we were raised with, but I can’t help how I feel. I had a crush on Percy for the longest time, but I got over that, and Will’s – he’s such a good person. I know you’ll love him if you give him a chance. He’s helped me so much, I can’t even tell you how much I’ve healed because of him.” She still wasn’t looking at him, and Nico’s voice broke. “Don’t be angry, please. I know you may not approve, but you’re my sister, and – and I don’t want to lose you, too. Just give me a chance to explain . . .”

He wasn’t watching Hazel’s face, so Nico didn’t see when shock started to fade, and then concern and understanding flooded her eyes.

“Oh, Nico,” she breathed. “Nico, you will never lose me, ever.” She took his face in her hands. One tear spilled out of his eye, and she wiped it away with her thumb. “Don’t cry, please. I’m sorry. I was surprised, but even if I didn’t approve, nothing could make me stop loving you. You’re my big brother. You always will be.”

Nico let go of the sob he’d been holding back and gathered her close. “I’ve been so scared of telling you.”

Hazel hugged him back, hard. “Well, you’re a dummy, because you never have to be scared of telling me anything, ever.” She pulled back, taking his shoulders. “I know it wasn’t what we were raised with. I was raised with a lot of ideas I know now are wrong. They told me the color of my skin made me worth less than white people. And a Negro girl with a Chinese boy? Nobody would’ve approved of that. There are lots of things about these modern days I don’t understand, but not all of them are bad. What I do know is that you look better and happier than I’ve ever seen you, and if this boy is responsible for even a little of that? I could never disapprove.”

Nico touched his forehead to hers. “I love you, _sorellina_. And I know you’ll love Will.”

“My horizons have gotten a little broadened here, you know,” Hazel said wryly. “I thought my two male archery instructors just bickered like an old married couple, and then I found out they actually _are_ an old married couple.” They both laughed. “However, I will be a little upset if it turns out I’m the last one to know.”

“Uh, actually . . .”

Hazel slapped him upside the head. “Nico!”

“Sorry! I just wanted to tell you in person, not over an Iris-message. If it’s any help, Frank doesn’t know, either.”

She shook her head. “Oh, what am I going to do with you? Well, I’ll look on the bright side: This gives me a chance to get back at you for that ‘flower boy’ crack.”

“Oh, gods,” moaned Nico.

“Seriously, though.” Hazel took his hands. “I get why you were worried about telling me. And I’m sorry I scared you at first. I was just really surprised, that’s all.”

Nico shook his head. “No need to apologize.”

Hazel took his arm again, and they started making their way back down to the camp. “So, now you have to tell me all about how you two met and got together.”

They talked until Hazel had to meet with her cohort before dinner. Nico found Will touring the medical facilities. Will spotted him and looked at question at him. Nico nodded and smiled. Will gave him the thumbs-up.

And later, at dinner, Hazel sat down directly across from Nico and Will.

“So, Will,” she said. “What are your intentions toward my brother?”

***

Unfortunately, Will wasn’t the only one getting grilled on their love life. At the first opportunity, Jason pulled Nico aside for some “guy talk.”

“So, how are you and Will doing?” the older boy asked.

 _Oh, gods_ , thought Nico. Well, there was no avoiding it. “Fine. He annoys me sometimes, I annoy him sometimes. How are you and Piper?”

“Us? We’re great. She’s great. Her dad’s great. Everything’s, uh . . .”

“Great?” Nico suggested.

“. . . Yeah, that.” Jason smiled a touch too brightly. Nico was getting a very strange feeling about this conversation. “So, um, what do you two, uh, do?”

Nico shrugged. “Stuff. We hang out, go on canoe rides, he tries to get me to sing at the campfire, I watch movies and listen to music with the Apollo cabin. That kind of thing.”

“Good. That sounds like fun.”

“It is.”

Jason cleared his throat. “Uh, Nico, how far have you and Will, y’know, gone?”

“Just to New York City. His sister Mia played Anita in her school’s production of West Side Story, and Will asked me if I wanted to go with him. I thought the two of us and Austin and Kayla were going to go as a group, but no, he wanted it to be a date, like, have dinner first and all. Austin and Kayla went another night. It was fun. Mia’s an amazing dancer and singer.”

“Well. That’s, um, good.” Jason scratched the back of his neck and adjusted his glasses. “What I was meaning to ask was, well, what you and Will have done, like, physically.”

“Well, I tried to teach him swordplay, if that’s what you mean. It didn’t go well.”

Jason stumbled over his own feet.

“And, you know, at camp, there are always things like Capture the Flag and Harley’s infamous Three-Legged Death Race. Will and I are always together for that.”

“Yeah, that’s, um, good.” Jason cleared his throat. “What I mean is . . . what I’m trying to ask . . .”

Nico gave him a look of honest puzzlement. “What is it, Jason?”

“Are you two, um . . .” Jason made some vague shapes with his hands. “Are you doing anything, er, below the waist?”

“Just the Three-Legged Death Race. Being tied together always makes it so hard.”

“Nico!” Jason looked like he was about to tear his hair out. “Nico, I’m trying to ask . . .” The light of realization went on in the son of Jupiter’s eyes. “. . . if you’re totally putting me on here.”

That got Jason Nico’s best attempt at puppy-dog eyes. “Putting you on? I don’t understand. _Non parlo Inglese_.”

Jason deflated. “Nico, you little Italian turd.”

Nico patted him on the cheek. “It’s your fault for trying to Talk me, Grace.” He walked away, throwing a, “By the way, I’m absolutely telling Piper about this conversation,” over his shoulder.

The next few days were filled with Camp Jupiter activities. Reyna set aside some time to get caught up with her friends, especially Nico, but she and Frank were almost always busy. On the upside, that meant that all she could do to Will was give him a stony look and a crushing handshake. The Greek demigods got to participate in the War Games. The Romans insisted on distributing the Seven (and Nico) among the cohorts, although they did leave Percy in the Fifth, since he was still an official member. Needless to say, everyone ended up soaked and muddy.

At the end of the week, Frank said there was a special presentation he wanted to make to the Seven, and Nico and Will were invited along, as well as Coach Hedge’s family and, of course, Calypso. They piled into a couple of SUVs and headed for the marina.

“I know the so-called Roman Navy was a disappointment to you, Percy,” said Frank, understating matters in an egregious manner. “We’ve decided to invest a little more in our coastal defenses. Right now, we only have the one boat, but we’re planning on more.”

“And without further ado,” said Hazel, leading them around someone’s luxury yacht, “may I present to you the _Pax II_!”

It wasn’t anything like the Greek triremes, but it was far from a leaky rowboat. The _Pax II_ was a sleek cutter of the type the Coast Guard used. Only the ballistae on deck and the SPQR and eagle painted on the prow gave it away as a Roman vessel. It was new and shiny and looked like it was built for speed.

Percy certainly liked it. “Now, that’s a boat!”

“We were hoping you’d christen it.” Hazel produced a bottle of blue Jones Soda with a linen napkin wrapped around its neck and offered it to Percy.

“I’d be honored.” Percy took the bottle, lined up for a good swing, and broke it over the bow of the boat. Everyone cheered.

“Man, we need to take it for a spin!” was Leo’s opinion, one which everyone was not-so-figuratively on board with.

“I thought you’d say that,” said Hazel, “which is why Frank and I had it stocked with everything we’ll need for a picnic.”

“Is this for everyone, or just Earth’s mightiest heroes?” Will asked.

“Definitely everyone.” Hazel waved an arm at the group. “Time to board!”

“Hey, if we’re the Avengers, I call Iron Man!” yelled Leo as he stampeded up the gangplank.

Jason went right after him. “Yeah, I can see that. After all, Robert Downey, Jr. is pretty SHORT!”

“You’re paying for that, Grace! Just ‘cause that traitor Nico outgrew me . . .”

Nico smirked at his boyfriend and offered his arm. “Shall we?”

Will took it. “We shall.”

***

Leo piloted the boat toward Angel Island while the rest tried to figure out which of the Avengers was who. It was generally agreed upon that Jason had to be Thor, which led to much discussion of who should be Captain America.

“Hey, if you’re looking for a guy who disappeared around World War II and reappeared in modern times . . .” Will hooked a thumb at Nico.

Nico was not having it. “One, I’m Italian by birth. Two, I refuse. Next!”

Percy ended up getting the role. Frank lobbied hard for Hawkeye.

“But, Frank, you can turn into huge things,” Piper protested. “I mean, doesn’t that make you more of-”

“I am NOT the Hulk. I’m an archer. I call Hawkeye.”

Percy gestured at Will. “But we’ve got another archer here, so . . .”

Will waved him off. “Please. Frank is a much better archer than I am. I’ll be some unnamed medic for SHIELD.”

Piper (“Beautiful, deadly, can talk even Loki around”) got Black Widow, and Hazel was proclaimed Scarlet Witch (“ ‘Cause, duh!”). Annabeth presented a conundrum.

“She’s more on the planning end,” said Frank. “Maybe she can be our Nick Fury.”

Annabeth blinked at him. “I am literally the physical opposite of Samuel L. Jackson.”

“Yeah, and Frank’s Chinese-Canadian and about a foot taller than Jeremy Renner. We’re talking types, not physical resemblance,” Jason pointed out.

Annabeth’s expression said he had a fair point, and she’d grudgingly take the role. “So, what about Nico?”

“Nico isn’t playing,” said the son of Hades, leaning against the railing and watching the water.

“Eh, it’s easy enough,” said Will. “Moody, prone to disappearing, you wouldn’t like him when he’s angry . . .” He made a “come on” gesture.

The whole boat burst into laughter. Nico did not.

“I am NOT the Hulk!” he protested, but he was outvoted. Hedge was declared to be Coulson, and the matter was settled.

When the boat reached Angel Island, the group offloaded and hiked to a likely-looking picnic spot. Chef Leo broke out his grill and started making tacos, and soon enough, everyone was eating and chatting. Little Chuck toddled around, being far too cute, as Mellie drifted contentedly behind him. Once Calypso finished her tacos, she pulled out the lute/guitar Leo had made for her in his second attempt at instrument crafting. She had an eclectic playlist composed of Ancient Greek folk songs, Latin music and Jason Mraz. Will harmonized with her on “Lucky,” throwing gooey looks at Nico, who tried very hard not to be charmed.

Piper caught Nico’s eye and winked, and it was only then that he realized he’d been idly playing with the curls at the back of Will’s neck since he’d finished his food. The son of Hades blushed, but didn’t take his hand away.

“I can’t believe this will be our last summer as campers,” Annabeth was saying. “It’s the end of an era!”

Piper threw her arms around her best friend. “I’m going to miss you!”

Percy pouted. “What about me?”

“Whatever.” Piper continued to cuddle with Annabeth.

“Oh, don’t worry,” said Nico. “I’m sure we’ll all meet up at the next apocalypse.”

Will tipped his head toward his boyfriend. “This is why I call him Mr. Sunshine.”

“You called me that all of once. It didn’t go well.”

“So I ended up with a zombie in my bed . . .”

The others laughed, and Piper and Jason started telling a story about a hilarious misunderstanding they’d had.

It was strange, Nico thought as he listened, how normal it all felt. The other couples didn’t seem to see anything different in Will and Nico. Since they had started their relationship, Nico had slowly become used to the fact that no one at Camp Half-Blood saw anything scandalous about gay couples. He knew it wasn’t always so easy in the world at large; he and Will had attracted a few angry looks, and even some hateful words, in New York City. On the other hand, the jerk at McDonald’s who’d called them names had promptly been smacked down by a grandmother.

Relaxing, he let himself lean against Will, and he thought this sunny afternoon with friends might just be the happiest he’d been since childhood.

That, of course, was when all hell broke loose.

A shimmering image of Butch appeared in the midst of them. His eyes were wide, and he was breathing hard.

“Get your asses back here!” he barked. “Camp Jupiter is under attack!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Non parlo Inglese = I don't speak English
> 
> Thanks to elisamoony for the Italian!


	2. Attack at Camp Jupiter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Camp Jupiter is under attack, eidolons are making things interesting, and it gets worse from there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for how short this chapter is, but I didn't want it to lose its punch due to events in the next chapter.

Leo piloted the _Pax II_ back to the mainland at breakneck speed as Percy persuaded the currents to help them out. They reached the marina in record time. What to do next was the question.

“The fastest way to camp is shadow-travel,” said Nico. “Hazel, I know you’ve been practicing.”

“Still not very good,” she said.

“But the two of us working together can get ten people there. Coach, could you and Mellie bring the SUVs back?”

Coach Hedge looked torn, as if he really wanted to attack something with his baseball bat, but he also wanted to keep his wife and child safe. He nodded tersely. “Yeah, sure. Save some enemies for me.”

“You’re sure you can do this, Nico?” asked Will.

Nico took a deep breath. He hadn’t collapsed after shadow travel for months now, but he also hadn’t tried anything quite like this since the Gaea War. “We don’t have much choice.”

“He’s right,” said Jason.

“I agree,” said Frank. “Weapons out, everybody.”

Fortunately, everyone had brought their swords or, in the case of Frank and Will, bows. They all armed themselves. Nico and Hazel found a likely place, the group locked arms, and the Underworld siblings guided them into the shadows.

They came out just outside Camp Jupiter. Nico and Hazel both stumbled, but neither collapsed. Privately, Nico was kind of amazed to still be conscious. He pulled a bottle of unicorn draught from his pack, drank from it, and handed it to Hazel.

Everyone else rushed into the battle. The attacking forces were composed largely of monsters, some of which Nico couldn’t even name. He recognized some of the two-headed men who had been some of Octavian’s _auxilia_ forces during the final battle with Gaea, and _cynocephali_ and some very unfriendly-looking centaurs as well. Nico could sense something different, though, something that was throwing off the Romans’ formations.

 _Eidolons_. Perhaps a dozen were flitting from body to body, causing chaos wherever they landed. A Roman would get possessed and turn on their fellow Legionnaires. The others, not wanting to kill a friend or cohort-mate, would try to take them down with non-lethal methods, and the _eidolon_ would abandon that body in favor of another.

“You see them?” Nico asked Hazel.

She nodded. “Yeah. But I can’t control them.”

Nico smirked at her. “You’re not the Ghost King. Looks like your ride is here, by the way.”

Arion zoomed in over the field. Hazel cried out in delight, summoned a gold nugget, and fed it to him. She mounted and looked down at Nico. “What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to show those _eidolons_ who’s boss.” Nico patted Arion’s flank. “Go on.”

 _Brave words_ , he thought after she charged into battle, _spatha_ drawn, _but how are you going to pull it off?_

He remembered Jason once talking about how he handled bullies (or _venti_ , whichever): Find the biggest, meanest one, and take it down. The rest will fall in line.

Nico stretched out with his senses. He could feel the _eidolons_ over the background chatter of the many, many other spirits at Camp Jupiter. They were like wrong notes in a symphony. And there was one that was louder than any of the others.

He followed that note as he entered the battle, letting muscle memory and instinct do his fighting for him. Distantly, he heard Reyna, astride Guido, and Frank calling battle orders. He could feel Reyna’s strength and courage flowing through her soldiers.

And that discordant note felt it, too. Nico realized what was going to happen a second before it happened.

Reyna’s voice suddenly choked, and Guido whinnied in distress. Nico raced toward them as the _eidolon_ within Reyna fought for control of the pegasus, which descended to the ground. It gave Nico an idea. He’d gotten much better at controlling his emotions as he’d learned to express them in a healthy way. It had been a long time since he’d had the type of outburst (“emotional incontinence,” as Will so charmingly put it) that other people could feel.

He purposely forgot everything he’d learned. A wave of rage and fear for his adopted older sister preceded him as he ran. It hit Guido, and the pegasus went wild. He bucked, throwing Reyna from his back, and flew away.

In those moments, as Reyna and her unwanted passenger lay, stunned, on the ground, Nico closed the remaining distance between them and placed his Stygian sword at her neck. He reached out with his will and held the _eidolon_ immobile so it couldn’t escape to another body.

“You know what this sword can do to you,” he growled. “All I have to do is will it, and you’ll become part of it forever. Who am I?”

 _“My prince,”_ the _eidolon_ hissed.

“Call to the others. Now.”

The _eidolon_ gave a near-hypersonic scream. Nico could feel the other _eidolons_ respond, drawing their captive humans toward him.

“Let them go!” he heard Frank shout.

Close by, Nico registered Jason interposing himself between Nico and a Roman. “No! Look at her eyes! That’s not Reyna! Let Nico do his work. He would never hurt her.”

The _eidolons_ came, walking their captives to where Nico had Reyna on the ground. Now that they’d given in to his authority once, he knew he could keep them under his control.

“Sit down, all of you. Stay in those bodies for now.” He stepped back from Reyna’s body. “You. Stand up.”

He waited, holding the _eidolons_ with his will, as the Romans rallied. Without the _eidolons’_ interference, the cohorts were able to close ranks and systematically take down their enemies.

The noise of battle died down slowly over the course of perhaps ten minutes. Nico scarcely moved, holding eye contact with the _eidolon_ inside Reyna.

And then Frank was there. “What’s going on? Why are they here?”

“An excellent question,” said Nico. He addressed the one in Reyna's body. “You. Why are you here? Who sent you?”

_“My prince, I am your servant, but I am forbidden-”_

Nico touched Reyna’s mouth, ever so gently, with his sword. The _eidolon_ screamed as it came flooding out of Reyna into the Stygian sword. He pulled it from her body, and Jason darted in and caught her as her knees buckled.

Nico turned to the others. “Do I need to repeat my questions?”

The _eidolons_ scraped and whimpered. One dared to look at Nico. _“My prince, we are here to distract the Romans and keep them from offering help to Camp Half-Blood. Our masters seek to kill the fallen god!”_

Apollo. This was about Apollo, and Camp Half-Blood was in danger.

Someone cursed. “We’ve got to get home,” said Percy.

Nico crouched down in front of the _eidolons_. “Listen well: You will leave these bodies and return to the Underworld. You will not return to Camp Jupiter. You will not go to Camp Half-Blood. Any _eidolons_ I find in the world above belong to me. Do I make myself clear?” The _eidolons_ scraped and whimpered some more. “Good. Spread the word. Now, begone.”

The _eidolons_ abandoned their unwilling hosts, and those who had been possessed slumped to the ground.

“Nico?” It was Reyna’s voice. Nico turned, suddenly worried about her reaction. She was pale and shaking, as if she’d just been sick, as Jason helped her to her feet.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

“I think so. I . . .” Reyna visibly pulled herself together. “Thank you for getting that – that _thing_ out of me.” Given her past, Nico knew, being possessed by a ghost had to be a literal nightmare for her. She rallied like the praetor she was, though. “Camp Half-Blood needs our aid. Praetor Zhang, I can handle things here if you want to go.”

Frank nodded sharply. “Fifth Cohort, you’re with me!” he shouted. “Get ready to move!”

Annabeth, who had disappeared, came running back down to the battleground. “I sent an Iris-message. Enemies are approaching Camp Half-Blood, a horde big enough to get past the Athena Parthenos. They’re preparing for battle. Harley will hold open one end of the Labyrinth for us.”

“The Labyrinth?” Percy asked. “Annabeth, that’s-”

“The only way we’re getting there fast enough to help. You know I’m right, so don’t argue.” Annabeth looked over at Hazel. “Hazel, we’re going to need all the help you can give us.”

Hazel nodded and looked at Nico. “This time, I’m the one who needs backup, big brother.”

Nico felt a little drained from controlling the _eidolons_ , but he nodded. “You’ve got it.”

Will approached. To Nico’s dismay, he had blood on him. “Will, are you okay?”

“Yeah. This isn’t mine.” Will looked at the people who were recovering from being possessed. “That was, uh . . . really impressive.”

“This ‘son of the Underworld’ stuff ought to be good for something. How are things on your end?”

“Not as bad as they could have been.” Will drank from his water bottle, and then gave it to Nico, who took a drink, too. “In terms of casualties, there are lots of injuries, some severe, but no deaths so far. The Roman medical teams have this wired.”

“Hopefully, we’ll be as lucky at Camp Half-Blood,” said Nico.

“Yeah.” Will looked worried, as well he might. “If this was just a diversion . . .”

Nico nodded shortly. “Let’s get our stuff. The Romans will be ready to move out soon.”

***

The Fifth Cohort gathered on the parade grounds in full weapons and armor. The fighting bulk of the Greeks were at the front, and Festus and non-combatant Greeks brought up the rear.

“I can get the barge back anytime,” said Leo. “Pretty sure we can use the dragon, though.”

There was no arguing with that. Hazel had found her entry to the Labyrinth. She looked calm and confident, but Nico knew she was nervous. The Labyrinth was a living thing, and it wasn’t friendly. Not as malevolent as it had been while its creator lived, but it could still kill. Nico joined her.

“Ready?” he asked under his breath.

She nodded. “Let’s do this.”

The siblings joined hands, and Hazel opened the Labyrinth. Arion took one look at it, shook his mane, whinnied something that made Percy choke, and ran east, disappearing in seconds. Hazel looked unhappy, but seemed to understand that her friend would meet her elsewhere. She and Nico entered the open tunnel first, the Greeks behind them, weapons drawn. Frank and Dakota led the Fifth Cohort after the Greeks, then the non-combatants, and Festus (with Clovis snoozing on his back; no one was going to make him march) acted as their rear guard.

Nico felt Hazel reaching out ahead of them, keeping the Labyrinth under her control, and he added his will to hers. They briefly emerged several places. First, there were the shanghai tunnels under Portland, Oregon. Then there was an underpass in Minneapolis, and then somewhere in Chicago – or, rather, under Chicago – and then they re-entered the Labyrinth via another underground tunnel even Nico found creepy.

After about another mile of marching, Hazel stopped and announced, “We’re here.”

Frank barked a few Latin commands at the Romans. They readied themselves for battle.

“Nico!” called a voice. A young son of Hephaestus named Ryan, whom Nico had rescued from a _dracaena_ the previous fall, came running toward them. “Nico, Harley and I kept the tunnel open! There are monsters at camp!”

“Good job, Ryan.” Nico drew his sword. “We brought help.”

Ryan’s eyes popped at the Roman cohort. “Awesome!”

“Close up the tunnel after we’re through,” Nico told Ryan. “We don’t want more enemies coming through the Labyrinth and attacking us from behind.”

Ryan nodded. “Okay.”

Nico looked back at Percy, who brandished Riptide. Beside him, Annabeth had her drakon-bone sword ready. Piper was holding the sword she’d appropriated from a Boread once. Will had an arrow nocked, but Nico knew he would probably immediately join the medics on the battlefield. The rest of the Greeks held weapons at the ready. Behind them, the Romans bristled with _pila_. The non-combatant Greeks withdrew behind Festus (and removed Clovis from his back).

The faint sounds of battle drifted through the tunnel.

“ _Ave Romae!_ " cried Hazel, holding her Stygian iron _spatha_ aloft. “ _Ave Graeci!_ Forward, into battle!”

They charged.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd apologize for the cliffhanger, but I'm not really sorry.


	3. Attack at Camp Half-Blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Camp Half-Blood surprises its attackers; Nico realizes something is very wrong; Will can't save everyone.

The first few seconds after emerging from the Labyrinth were pure chaos. As Nico would later learn, the battle had only truly been going for a few minutes. Camp Half-Blood had used the two “sorry we attacked your camp over a complete misunderstanding” onagers the Romans had left them to take out a full third of the approaching horde before they’d breached Half-Blood Hill. There were plenty left, though: Stymphalian birds, _dracanae_ , _echidnae_ , _empousai_ , gryphons, and various other kinds of monsters, capped off by two drakons.

It was a huge force, but whoever was behind it had counted on the most experienced and powerful campers being gone, and they absolutely had not counted on a full Roman cohort charging out of nowhere.

Frank immediately began to call formations. Will spotted a few of his siblings and joined them pulling wounded campers out of the way.

“We need to find Apollo!” Annabeth shouted over the noise.

Nico cut down a _dracaena_ and scanned the battleground. Up on Half-Blood Hill, Sherman Yang was alight with Ares’s blessing, roaring and cutting down opponents like he was swatting flies. The Hephaestus cabin manned their war machines, firing a volley of Celestial bronze projectiles that took down the remaining Stymphalian birds and one gryphon.

“BRASIL!” cried Paolo Montes, stabbing an _echidna_.

Nico waded in, keeping his ears open even as he fought. Jason and Percy flanked him. Hoofbeats and a triumphant cry from Hazel announced Arion’s arrival.

“PEACHES!”

The scream drew Nico’s attention to Meg McCaffrey’s insane little _karpos_ friend, which was currently beating up an _empousa_. It was never far from its mistress, who was fighting with her scythes, protecting none other than Apollo.

The fallen god was pale and looked dazed. He hadn’t been in good shape when he returned to Camp Half-Blood; the curse of the Styx had been taking its toll on him. Right at the moment, he didn’t seem capable of defending himself. Kayla had parked herself by his side, firing arrow after arrow at anything that came near. Mia, one of the senior Apollo campers and one of the few who used a sword, protected his other side. Nico ran to them.

“Nico! Nice of you to join us!” shouted Mia, swinging her sword with a dancer’s grace. 

“Seemed like the thing to do.”

The monsters were drawn toward Apollo’s position, something that hadn’t escaped Hazel’s view from Arion. Nico heard her voice ordering part of the Fifth Cohort to converge on them.

Peaches screamed again and started gnawing on a _dracaena_ , having dispatched the _empousa_ to its satisfaction. The Romans charged in, working like a machine to cut down the monsters swarming toward Apollo. Festus flew overhead, breathing fire, on his way to confronting the drakons.

Nico concentrated on the enemies in front of him, but all around him, death waited. He felt the all-too-fragile threads connecting him to his friends, to Hazel, to Will. It was terrifying, knowing that he could lose any of them, and it reminded him of why he’d always tried to avoid connections before. Now, though, they added to his determination. After shadow-traveling, controlling the _eidolons_ , and bolstering Hazel’s strength during their trek through the Labyrinth, he didn’t have the energy to summon the dead without collapsing. He chose to continue fighting, striking down opponent after opponent.

Fortunately, he didn’t need to do more. The force would have overwhelmed Camp Half-Blood, but with the addition of the Roman cohort and Festus, it didn’t stand a chance. It seemed like only moments before Nico killed one last _dracaena_ and found himself with no more enemies.

And, to his relief, none of the threads binding him to his friends and loved ones was cut. In fact, he didn’t think anybody had died, though he did sense the potential for death still hanging in the air.

It turned from the warriors’ world to the healers’, and Will led the charge. The entire Apollo cabin, including Apollo himself (though he still looked weak) went to work, as well as a contingent of Roman healers. Anybody not working on the mop-up of the monsters, putting out fires or generally clearing the battlefield was roped into helping the healers. 

Nico had worked with the Apollo cabin all winter, and he fell in with Austin, Jordan and a Roman healer named Aimee as they worked triage. For some reason, they criticized his bedside manner.

“Stop whimpering. You’re not dying,” he told an Aphrodite kid he was vaguely familiar with.

Jordan gave him a hard nudge and took over. “Just have a bite of ambrosia, Chloe, sweetie, you’ll be fine.”

Most of the wounded campers could be treated with nectar and ambrosia on the field. Campers with more serious injuries, but who weren’t in immediate danger of dying, were taken to the infirmary. The most serious injuries were stabilized by Will and the other healers where they were.

It had been evening when they had arrived at the battle. Somewhere around one in the morning, Nico helped transport the last of the serious injuries to the infirmary.

Inside, he paused a moment, watching Will. He knew Will had done at least one healing; Nico had come to recognize the particular brand of exhaustion on Will’s face that came with using his powers. Nonetheless, Will was the most animated person in the clinic, having taken charge of the other healers as naturally as Percy would command water. Nobody had died on his watch this time around, not yet, and Nico knew he’d take that as a win.

Except . . .

Something was tugging at Nico’s senses. Someone he had a connection to – not a deep connection, but more than a glancing one – was dying. Nico moved from the clinic to the recovery ward. No one there was in immediate danger.

Quickly, Nico made his way to the exterior of the infirmary, still reaching out with his senses. Jason was there, and Nico grabbed him.

“We need a head count,” Nico told his friend. “Something’s wrong. Someone’s dying, and I can’t find them. I think it’s a Greek, someone I know.”

“Any idea who?” Jason asked.

Nico shook his head, frustrated. “No. There’s too much going on.”

Jason nodded shortly and ran off to where Annabeth, Lou Ellen and a few other senior counselors had their heads together. Nico spotted Ellis Wakefield, who was acting as Ares senior counselor while Sherman Yang recovered from his injuries in the infirmary, talking with Butch Walker and Miranda Gardiner, and he spoke with them. Word spread quickly. Nico ran back up to the infirmary.

Will was looking tired, but chipper, as another wounded warrior was carried off to the recovery ward. “Nico! I think we saved them all.”

Nico hated to wipe the smile from his face, but he had to. “Will, there’s someone still in danger. You need to do a head count of your cabin. Someone’s missing. They’re dying.”

Will paled and called Kayla and Jordan over. “We need to find everyone from our cabin. Nico says someone’s missing, and-”

“They’re coming,” said Nico. He could feel the death approaching.

The infirmary doors banged open, and four Romans entered, carrying a bloody figure on a stretcher.

“We found her while we were doing recon outside the camp boundaries,” one of them said. “We think she got grabbed by a gryphon, maybe fought her way free and fell. We sprinkled unicorn horn in her wounds and poured some nectar in her mouth, but . . .”

“Oh, gods. Eliza!” cried Kayla.

Eliza Hanson, the youngest member of the Apollo cabin, lay all too still on the stretcher as the Romans placed her on the exam table. Her siblings surrounded her, examining her, running to fetch ambrosia.

And Nico knew it was all in vain. He felt her slipping away. Her body was too badly damaged, and they hadn’t gotten to her in time to save her.

“We have to do a healing!” Will’s voice was full of panic and anguish. “Help me, all of you.”

Nico watched helplessly as Will placed his hands on his sister’s still form and began to sing. Healing could put a body back together, but it couldn’t replace lost blood or restore organs that had shut down. Will was going to try, and he was inevitably going to fail.

Except . . .

Something was going wrong. A discordant note in the song. The other Apollo campers felt it. Will was pouring too much energy into her, holding life in her body by linking his life to hers.

“Will. Will!” Kayla tried desperately to get her brother’s attention.

“Will, stop,” Jordan begged. “Stop! You can’t do this!”

The voices were rising, horror and panic in them, and Nico felt frozen to his spot.

“Nico!” Apollo shouted.

Nico’s feet were moving before he even comprehended why the fallen god had called his name. Acting on pure instinct, he reached out and placed his right hand on Will’s burning one.

“No.”

With that word, Nico reached out, found the thread that connected Will’s life force to Eliza’s, and cut it. Eliza fell away, down to the Underworld, as Will slammed back into his own body.

Will turned on Nico, incredulous betrayal and rage in his face. “Why did you do that? You killed her!”

Nico faced him. “She was gone already, Will, you were killing yourself.”

“No!” For the first time, Will grabbed Nico in anger. “I had her! I could’ve saved her!”

“You couldn’t have saved her! Will, she was too far gone!”

Other Apollo campers gathered around, trying to calm Will down, but Will was too far gone for that. Nico retreated a few steps until his legs met the edge of another examination bed.

“I could have saved her!”

“You’d have died!”

“She was my sister!”

Nico grabbed Will’s face in his hands. _“I lost my sister, too!”_

For a moment, Will just looked stunned. Then his face twisted, and tears flooded out of his eyes.

“I didn’t even know she was missing,” Will gasped.

“Shh.” Nico pressed his forehead to Will’s. “You couldn’t have.”

“I should have! She was alone and dying in the dark . . .”

“Will, _caro_ . . .” The gentle endearment bubbled up from somewhere in Nico’s childhood as he tried to comfort his boyfriend.

All the strength seemed to go out of Will’s legs, and Nico pulled him close, sitting down on the exam bed.

“My little sister,” Will sobbed, burying his face in Nico’s arms. “Eliza.”

The soft, broken sounds of grief filled the room as the Apollo healers began to mourn their sister’s loss.

Nico thought about bright brown eyes and apple cheeks. He thought about a young girl who’d insisted that the strange, sinister son of Hades dance with her. He thought about coltish arms thrown around him and the revelation of a crush before she left for the school year.

He allowed himself a few tears for the child who’d befriended him in spite of his best attempts to drive people away. Somehow, in her innocence, she’d seen through him.

In his arms, Will sagged, the stress and effort he'd spent trying to heal Eliza sapping all the strength from his body. “Jordan,” said Nico.

Jordan had dropped into a crouch nearby, weeping. He looked up at his name, saw Will’s drooping form, and understood what Nico needed him to do. He stood up and helped Nico lift Will into the bed.

As Nico moved away, Will caught his hand. “Nico. Take care of her. Please,” he murmured.

“I will. I promise.” Nico bent down and kissed Will gently. “Rest, _caro_.”

Somewhere inside Nico was a calm, quiet place, sad but also serene. He found that place, settled into it. It was very unlike what he felt when he summoned the dead or shadow-travelled. It was gentler, more human, and he embraced it.

“Dan, Jordan, Will needs you to take care of him,” he told Will’s brothers.

Dan wasn’t crying. He just looked white-faced and stunned. At Nico’s words, he stirred, seeming to move on automatic as he fetched some nectar for Will.

Nico walked over to the main examination table, where Eliza’s body lay. Apollo stood at her head, looking almost confused as tears ran down his face, as if he couldn’t comprehend his daughter’s death. Not like this, not in front of his helpless, mortal eyes.

Kayla wept, holding her little sister’s hand. As Nico approached, she turned to him, wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in his shoulder, fresh sobs shaking her. Her grief sank into him, and he hugged her gently.

“I couldn’t do anything for her,” Kayla sobbed.

“You can now. You and her sisters. Listen.” Nico took her shoulders, looked into her eyes. “I need your help to lay her to rest.”

Kayla rallied, pulling herself up and wiping tears from her face. “Tell me what to do.”

Nico turned his eyes to Eliza’s body. It was an empty shell now, but it was still important, still worthy of respect. It was a focus for grief and the last ways Eliza’s siblings could show their love for her. Nico kissed her cool forehead.

Eliza Hanson was dead, and Nico’s work had just begun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I am now emotionally exhausted.


	4. Prothesis and Ekphora

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The funeral rites for Eliza are held.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter is taken from some research I did into Ancient Greek funeral customs.
> 
> Prothesis: The cleansing and laying out of the body.
> 
> Ekphora: The procession to the final resting place of the deceased.

Nico turned from Eliza’s body to the gathered Apollo campers. He knew what was necessary, but as their grief battered him, he had trouble putting words to it.

“I need her sisters,” he began, and stopped briefly before starting again. “Eliza’s sisters should take her somewhere private. Wash her body and anoint it with funereal oil. Place a drachma in her mouth. Dress her. Take as much time as you need. Once that’s done, her body should be taken to the Hades cabin by her sisters and placed on the bier.”

“Wh-why only her sisters?” Austin asked, wiping tears from his face.

It was Apollo who answered. “Humans come into the world in blood and water from their mothers’ bodies. They leave through the blood of death, and the water of women’s tears.” He touched Eliza’s face. “My sweet daughter, I’ve failed you. It was my curse that took your life. I drew the attack here. This is my fault!”

“Apollo.” Nico kept his voice as gentle as he could. “This isn’t about you.” That got the fallen god’s attention. “Her sisters have their duty. So do her brothers. There are still many wounded. Not all of them are out of the woods yet. Help your sons. They need you.”

Mia, the oldest of the Apollo girls, stepped forward, brushing her tears away with a tissue. “Let’s take her to the shower room. It’s the best place to wash her. Carli, find something for her to wear. Brigitte, bring some sutures so we can close her wounds. We can do this for her.”

Before he left the infirmary, Nico checked on Will, who was deeply asleep.

“He’s stable,” Dan said, still looking blank, shocked. “He used a lot of energy. It’ll take him time to recover. His hands have some minor burns because of how much energy he used. We have salve for that. He-he’ll be okay, I think.”

Nico wondered. Will was extraordinarily protective of his younger siblings. 

He walked out of the infirmary into the night. The campers who hadn’t been seriously injured and who weren’t needed in the infirmary had clustered around Hestia’s hearth. There were a few hundred of them, including the Romans. They were talking, reliving the battle, joking with each other with a general air of relief that they’d gotten through it intact. As Nico approached, though, they quieted. He made his way to the center so he was standing in the light of the fire.

“Eliza Hanson, daughter of Apollo, has passed from this world,” he announced. Gasps and cries of disbelief came out of the crowd. Eliza had been well-liked, having friends in a number of cabins. “Her funeral rites will be held three days from now. Until then, her body will lie in state in the Hades cabin. All who wish to pay their respects are welcome at any hour.”

Alice Miyazawa and Julia Feingold, who had been close friends of Eliza’s, started crying as their siblings surrounded them. Nico could hear more crying in the crowd, and their grief washed over him.

Annabeth stepped forward. “What can the rest of us do for the Apollo cabin?”

Nico was grateful for the question. “We need a litter made to carry Eliza from the infirmary to my cabin. And . . . the Apollo cabin will need extra help in the infirmary.”

“The Demeter cabin can make the litter,” Miranda volunteered.

“Thank you,” said Nico.

“The senior counselors can set up a rotation of volunteers to work in the infirmary,” said Annabeth.

Conversation picked up around the fire again, this time about Eliza, and about helping the Apollo cabin. Nico decided his work there was done and withdrew, heading for his cabin.

Piper caught up with him. “Nico . . . how’s Will doing?”

Nico hesitated. “Not well.”

Her eyes filled with sympathy. “How are you doing?”

“I’ve never had to perform these duties for someone I really liked.” Nico took a deep breath and released it. “But at least I have something I can do. Will can’t. He feels like he failed her, even after he nearly killed himself trying to save her.” He closed his eyes. He had to tell someone, and he felt Piper would understand. “I had to stop him. He’d gone too deep, started using his own life energy to bring her back when she was already gone. I had to stop him. I’m – I’m not sure he can forgive that.”

“Nico . . .” Piper hugged him. “You two will get through this. Believe it.”

Nico clung to her for a moment, to her certainty and kindness. It steadied him. Then he pulled back. “Thank you.”

Hazel and Frank, holding hands, came up to Piper and Nico. “I talked to Reyna,” said Frank. “The Fifth Cohort will be staying here for a week to help in case of any further attacks.”

Hazel would be staying through the funeral. It was a deep relief to Nico. “I’m glad. That will make people here feel better.”

His sister laid her hand on his arm. “Whatever you need me to do, I’m here for you, big brother.”

“I know.” Nico kissed her forehead. “I need to get the cabin ready for Eliza. Help me out?”

They went to the Hades cabin together.

***

At first morning light, the sisters of the Apollo cabin carried Eliza Hanson’s body down from the infirmary. They were dressed in charcoal-gray chitons, and they had dressed their little sister in pure white. The litter she lay on was made of tree branches that had been woven together, shaped by the Demeter and Athena cabins, and decorated with the yellow flowers of Delos.

Their brothers and father accompanied them. The girls sang an ancient dirge, which their brothers echoed back to them. Every camper well enough to be there stood silently along the route they had to take.

Nico, wearing a pure-black chiton and robe, and Hazel, in a pure-black toga, flanked the entrance of the Hades cabin. The Apollo sisters stopped briefly, acknowledging them, and Nico and Hazel then preceded them into the cabin.

As her body passed the door, Eliza’s name, in Greek and Roman lettering, and the symbol of Apollo etched themselves into the _stela_ beside it.

Inside, the bier had been raised. Eliza’s sisters laid the litter on it. The chestnut curls of her hair fanned out around her face, and there was no sign of the injuries that had caused her death. But she was utterly, utterly still, her face white. Eliza wasn’t present anymore.

Nico touched her body, reaching for that instinctive knowledge again. Under his fingers, her body cooled rapidly to just a few degrees above freezing. It would slow decay until the funeral pyre.

He knew that her body might not burn on it. Chiron would contact her mother, who would have the final say about where she would rest. Nonetheless, the funeral rites would go on. The campers needed them.

Tears began to fall again. The Hades cabin was a place for grief, and Eliza’s sisters wept over her body. Her brothers joined them.

Except for Will. He’d never left the infirmary.

***

Representatives from every cabin came to pay their respects. Piper sprinkled white rose petals over Eliza’s body. Annabeth placed a worn, paperback copy of Eliza’s favorite book, _A Wrinkle in Time_ , next to her hand. Ellis brought Eliza’s bow and a single arrow. Offerings for the dead came with some cabins. Miranda brought honey from the Demeter cabin’s hive. Percy put a cup of water from the fountain in the Poseidon cabin next to Eliza’s head. In lieu of the traditional wine offering, Newt from the Dionysus cabin brought bug juice.

There were some unexpected visitors. Drew stopped by with her makeup kit. When she left, snapping that no, she was _not_ crying, Eliza’s face looked fresh and dewy, as if she were only asleep.

Around noon, Eliza’s mother arrived. Amanda Hanson collapsed beside the bier with a scream of pure anguish.

Nico knelt next to her and took her hand. The sheer agony that lanced through him stole his breath, and he struggled to maintain the contact, knowing that his pain was a mere shadow of hers.

And then Hazel knelt on her other side, taking her hand and sharing the burden. The Apollo cabin gathered around Eliza’s mother, wrapping her in their embrace, helping her to bear the unbearable.

***

Someone brought food. Nico was never sure exactly who. Meg McCaffrey scowled at Apollo until he ate half a sandwich. Then she parked herself by his side, not touching him, but making it clear that she considered herself his guardian.

Amanda Hanson sat, dazed, her back against the bier, holding onto Nico’s hand like it was a lifeline. One of the Apollo girls had draped a black shawl over her hair.

After some time, Apollo himself hesitantly approached. “Amanda,” he said. Her reddened eyes found his. “It’s me. Apollo. I-I was made human.”

“I know.” Amanda’s voice was barely over a whisper. “Kayla wrote. Eliza was so excited to finally meet you . . .”

Apollo swallowed hard. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t meet her earlier. I’m sorry I couldn’t keep her safe.”

“I couldn’t, either.” Another tear ran down Amanda’s face. “I always knew I couldn’t keep her. Even when I gave birth to her, I knew I couldn’t keep her.” She took a gasping breath. “Why do the gods give us children we can’t keep?”

Apollo sat down heavily on the floor, weeping helplessly. After a few moments, Amanda reached out and took his hand in hers.

***

Late in the afternoon, Apollo brother Vitaly arrived with his Ares girlfriend, Alyssa. The two of them had been doing a summer ballet intensive. They’d taken emergency leave because they had been particularly close to Eliza, as they and Mia had attended a school for the arts in New York with her. Mia cried quietly with them.

“I remember wondering where she was,” Mia whispered. “There was so much going on, though, and I never followed up. I wish I had. Maybe we could’ve saved her.” Vitaly and Alyssa hugged her, reassuring her that it wasn’t her fault.

Save for their head counselor and some of the boys cycling through shifts in the infirmary, the entire Apollo cabin spent the night in the Hades cabin. The Hypnos cabin donated some blankets and pillows, and Eliza’s brothers and sisters slept in pairs or what Jordan termed “puppy piles” on the floor. Nico offered Amanda his bed, but she declined, choosing instead to sleep on the floor in front of her daughter’s bier.

The second day dawned with no sign of Will. A couple of his brothers discussed him in low voices.

“He keeps saying he’ll come down and then making excuses why he can’t,” said Austin.

“Yeah, he’s acting like everyone in the infirmary will die if he’s not there,” Ken Ishigawa agreed.

Jordan sighed. “I tried talking to him, but he brushed me off. You know how he Dads everyone. He feels like he failed her even though there was literally nothing he could do.”

Nico overheard the conversation, heart heavy. He wanted to go to Will, but he had duties to the dead. Part of him, too, was worried that he and Will wouldn’t be able to get past this. Will had become so important to him that Nico wasn’t sure if he could get over it if Will broke up with him.

Pushing the matter out of his mind, he went back to his duties.

He didn’t notice Hazel slipping out of the cabin.

***

Will snapped off another pair of gloves and threw them in the trash. Since dawn, he’d changed six wound dressings. It was a task that demanded his attention as he checked to make sure stitches were still in place, wounds were healing and infection wasn’t setting in. Next on his list was looking in on a head injury patient he’d healed. He was sure he’d done a good job, but head injuries could be tricky.

He spotted Marcus, one of his brothers, watching him, concern on his face. After Jordan’s earlier attempt at a talk, Will knew what his siblings were saying. He knew he should go down to the Hades cabin, but he had his duties. Once he was finished here, he’d go.

He went into the supply closet for more painkillers, salve and bandages. Some of the Romans were legacies and couldn’t take ambrosia or nectar, which complicated healing them, but it was a good kind of challenge, in Will’s opinion. It didn’t let him get lazy.

The last thing he wanted, after all, was time to think.

When Will exited the supply closet, someone was waiting for him.

“It’s time, Will,” Hazel said in her soft Louisiana accent. Her black toga turned her arms gold.

Will knew what she meant. Panic started rising in him.

“Time for what?” he asked, trying to keep his voice level.

“You know.” Hazel’s voice and expression were nothing but gentle and compassionate, but Will could feel the steel behind her words. It reminded him that she was a daughter of Pluto, equivalent to any of the Big Three in power. “You have to face this. You have to face _him_.”

Will shook his head, busying himself with the supplies he’d pulled. “I have work to do here.”

“No, you don’t.” The new voice came from the door to the recovery ward. Cordelia, the head Roman medic in the Fifth Cohort, stood there. “We have everything in hand. Nobody’s in immediate danger. We have more than enough help. And I’m getting a little tired of your brothers fretting over you. Go with Hazel; your cabin needs its senior counselor.” With that, Cordelia withdrew to the recovery ward. Will knew from recent experience that she wasn’t going to be moved now that she’d made up her mind.

He had to go.

Something was squeezing Will’s chest, and he felt like he could hardly breathe. Before he knew exactly what was happening, Hazel had guided him to a chair. She crouched down in front of him.

“Tell me what you’re afraid of, Will,” she urged him.

It came spilling out. “I’m afraid I’m going to lose it in front of my cabin. I’m afraid they’ll realize how scared I am, how much better Lee or Michael would be at dealing with this. I’m afraid when I – when I see Nico, I’ll be angry at him again. I know he was right. I know I couldn’t have saved her. But I keep replaying that moment when he stopped me from trying, and part of me wants to blame him, even though it wasn’t his fault. I’m afraid of facing her mother, because I couldn’t save her. I didn’t even realize she was missing! I’m afraid of not being able to do anything for her, or my brothers and sisters. I’m afraid Nico will hate me for lashing out at him. I attacked him, Hazel. I’m his boyfriend, and I attacked him physically. How could he forgive me for that?”

Hazel took his hands in hers. Will absently registered that her body temperature, like Nico’s, ran a little cool. “Will, if Nico were wounded, and you were treating him, and he struck out at you because of how much pain he was in, would you forgive him?”

It wasn’t even a question. “Of course.”

“Don’t you think he understands why you lashed out? Don’t you think he feels as much compassion for you as you would for him?” Hazel’s golden eyes were every bit as penetrating as her brother’s colorless ones. “Show yourself the same mercy you’d show anyone else. Your brothers and sisters don’t need someone who can handle all of this perfectly. They just need you. And you need them. You and my brother need each other right now.”

“I’m still scared.”

“It’s okay to be scared.” Hazel stood, tugging at Will’s hands. “Come with me.”

Heart beating painfully in his chest, Will let Hazel lead him out of the infirmary and down to the Hades cabin. He gathered his courage and crossed the threshold.

It took his eyes a moment to adjust from the bright sunlight outside to the candlelit interior of the cabin. His siblings all looked at him. He felt them exhale a little, as if something had finally fallen into place, and he knew he’d been wrong to stay away.

He forced himself to look at the bier where Eliza rested. It was wrong, terribly wrong, to see her so motionless. And yet . . . in the stillness of the Hades cabin, in the soft light, her body was sacred.

And sitting with their backs against the bier were Eliza’s parents. Apollo looked terribly, terribly young with his reddened eyes. Yet, he also looked very much the father as he held a sleeping Kayla across his lap, toying with a lock of her red hair. Amanda Hanson sat beside him, one hand in his, the other holding Nico’s in what looked like a painful grip.

Nico’s eyes found his. There was a serenity in his features that Will had rarely seen, an absolute comfort in this element. It was the same comfort Will felt in the infirmary, even when everything was going haywire. Those eyes held no rancor, only an invitation to let his grief flow.

Will walked to Amanda and knelt down in front of her. “I’m Will Solace,” he stated simply, not knowing what else to say.

Amanda somehow managed to smile a little. “Eliza talked about you so much. She idolized you.”

That painful pressure hit his chest again. “I’m so sorry,” he gasped through it. “I wanted to save her, I tried so hard, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t.”

Amanda reached out to him, embraced him, and Will lost it.

And it was okay.

***

The atmosphere in the Hades cabin changed on the second day. There was still deep grief, but Nico’s serenity seemed to have spread. The Apollo campers talked quietly, remembering their fallen sister.

“Remember when she got Nico to dance?” asked Mia.

Jordan chuckled. “Oh, gods, she developed such a crush on you, Nico. It was adorable.”

Nico found himself smiling. “She was hard to say no to.”

“She had the whole cabin wrapped around her finger,” said Will. “And it wasn’t just us. She played big sister to a lot of the younger campers, like Harley and Ryan.”

Both of the young sons of Hephaestus had been in to say goodbye, crying. They’d made a Celestial bronze flower for her, which now rested on her chest.

The despondency of the previous day had lifted a little, though tears still flowed freely. From time to time, as they talked, Amanda would instinctively reach for Nico, and he’d hold her hand as a mother’s grief seized her again.

Other campers brought food and other comforts to the Hades cabin. Periodically, Hazel would leave the cabin, carrying Nico’s instructions for the funeral rites out to the other senior counselors. Inside, the siblings comforted each other, their father, and Eliza’s mother.

As night fell, some of the campers slept, but most stayed awake. Someone brought Will a charcoal-gray chiton, which he changed into. Eliza’s siblings and parents kept vigil all night.

***

In the gray light before dawn on the third day, Nico and Hazel were the first to leave the Hades cabin. They took up the torches from either side of the doorway and waited.

Amanda Hanson was the first to exit after them, leading the Apollo girls as they bore the litter carrying their sister’s body, which they had wrapped in a shroud bearing Apollo’s sigil. Apollo followed them, and then the boys, led by Will. Nico and Hazel, carrying the torches, brought up the rear.

Singing a dirge, they all processed to the amphitheater, where every other camper well enough to be there waited. Some who really weren’t well enough attended; many Ares campers, including Sherman Yang, dragged their broken bones to the amphitheater to honor the one who’d fallen in battle. The Romans had insisted on taking over the infirmary so all of the Apollo campers could attend the rites. 

A pyre had been built, and Eliza’s sisters placed the litter on top of it. Nico led the prayers for the dead as offerings were placed on the litter around Eliza’s body. And then, as the sun rose, Nico and Hazel used their torches to set the pyre alight.

Apollo stood and sang. His voice resonated with power as he sang of his daughter, of her life and death. He sang of his pride in her and his sorrow at losing her just as he had begun to know her.

The Underworld flames burned white-hot as they reached Eliza’s body, and as they did so, Nico fell into a trance.

***

_He knows where he is standing, on the shores of the River Styx. He hears the regretful rush of the water, sees the remnants of lives bobbing in the current._

_Standing a few feet away is Eliza. She looks beautiful, serene, as she waits. When she sees him, she smiles._

_Charon the ferryman poles his way to the edge of the river. Eliza reaches into her mouth and pulls out a coin, which she places in Charon’s hand. She takes her place on his ferry and looks expectantly at Nico. He joins her, and Charon pushes away from the shore._

_Nico knows this journey well. He watches the shores pass by without interest as Charon makes the journey he’s made innumerable times._

_The ferry stops at the pavilion of judgment, and Nico disembarks with Eliza. They stand in front of the judges of the dead, who discuss her case briefly. She died in battle while trying to save lives, and there is no real question about where she belongs. Elysium opens to her._

_She looks up at Nico and smiles that apple-cheeked smile her siblings loved, and she leans up and kisses him on the cheek._

_And then she is gone._

***

Nico came back to his body. Only moments had passed, though it had felt much longer. Time flowed differently in the Underworld.

He stepped forward, in front of Amanda Hanson. “Eliza has moved on to the Elysian Fields,” he told her.

Amanda looked up at him, tears on her face. “Can I ever see her again?”

“The Elysian Fields are reserved for the valiant. Live valiantly, and you will see her again.” Nico gave her a little smile. “I think you will.”

The other campers slowly left, but the Apollo cabin stayed until the pyre and Eliza’s body had burned to ashes. Once they had, dryads came out of the woods. They separated the ashes of Eliza’s body from the wood ashes and placed them in a simple, beautiful wooden ark, which they gave to Nico. He presented it to her mother.

The funeral rites concluded, the Apollo campers went back to their own cabin, taking Amanda with them. Mia, however, gave Nico a pointed look and indicated Will with a nod. Nico understood.

As the Apollo campers left, Nico took Will’s arm and steered him back to the Hades cabin.

“Nico, what . . .” Will began, seemingly unable to finish whatever question was occurring to him.

“Mia wants me to take care of you. I’m not arguing with her.” Nico ushered Will firmly inside. The bier had been lowered, and only the pillows and blankets neatly stacked along one wall, waiting to be returned to the Hypnos cabin, indicated what had occurred there.

“I should get back to my cabin. They might need me,” said Will.

“And how much rest would you get there?” Nico asked. “You’d be taking care of everyone but yourself. You need to sleep.” His voice softened. “Let me do this for you.”

Will faced his boyfriend, eyes red and face drawn with exhaustion. “Nico, I . . . I know we need to talk about everything, but . . .”

“You’re too tired. I know. So am I.” Nico touched his face. “We’ll work through this.”

Will gave him a slightly watery smile. “We will.”

They kissed for a long moment, and then Nico pulled Will over to his bed. “Come on. Lie down.”

Nico lay down, and Will climbed into bed beside him, laying his head on his boyfriend’s shoulder and curling into him.

They fell asleep like that, taking comfort in each other.


	5. Perideipnom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eliza's funeral feast is held, camp life gets back to abnormal, and things get heated between Will and Nico in more ways than one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Perideipnom: Ancient Greek funeral feast hosted by the dead in gratitude toward those who buried them.

Nico felt unusually warm as he woke up. Unusually peaceful, too. For a moment, he simply savored it. He was comfortable and refreshed, and the warm weight on his chest was somehow reassuring, safe.

Then he remembered what that warm weight was, and why it was there. Nico opened his eyes and looked down at Will’s sun-touched curls. Will was breathing deeply, still asleep. One of his arms was thrown over Nico’s body, and their legs were tangled together.

It was . . . nice. More than nice.

After a few minutes, Will stirred. He lifted his head and looked up at Nico with hazy blue eyes. Then he laid his head down again.

“Can I just stay in here?” Will mumbled. “Maybe I could get permission from Chiron.”

Nico chuckled a little, relieved at Will’s half-playful words, though he heard the wistfulness behind them. “Maybe you could use the old ‘doctor’s note’ dodge.”

“Think he’d buy it?”

“I’m pretty sure he’d be a little suspicious of your intentions.”

This time, Will chuckled. “Like your sister.”

Nico had a terrible thought. “Oh, gods, what if she came back to the cabin while we were asleep?”

Will lifted his head again. “In that case, I’m really not leaving on account of I don’t want a Stygian iron _spatha_ through my cranium.”

Nico patted his shoulder. “If it helps, I’m pretty sure she’d confine herself to glaring at you and having Words with me.”

“That’s almost as scary.”

“True.”

Will sighed and looked around. “What time is it, anyway?”

“It’s . . .” Nico craned his neck to find his clock. “Just after three.”

His boyfriend groaned. “I need to get back to my cabin, but I really don’t want to get up.” He laid his head back down on Nico’s chest.

Nico pushed at him playfully. “Well, you have to. You’re making me sweat.”

Will looked at him with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. “So, you’re saying you find me hot?”

“Get over yourself, Solace.”

Will laughed, and Nico couldn’t help laughing with him. It felt so good to banter with him.

“Get up.” Nico pushed at him again, and Will finally levered himself up.

“You’ll be at dinner, right?” Will asked.

“Yes, of course.” Nico sat up as well. “Tell Mia I did my duty and she doesn’t need to kick my ass.”

“Will do.” Will looked at him. “Can we meet tomorrow afternoon? Usual place, usual time? There are . . . things to talk about.”

“Of course.” 

Nico felt a little anxious about the talk to come, and it must have showed in his face. Will smiled at him gently.

“I’m not angry at you. I’m nowhere close to breaking up with you. I’m kind of a mess at the moment, but I’m not insane, I promise.” He took Nico’s hand. “We just need some time to be Will and Nico. To be us.”

After the last few days, Nico knew what he meant. He’d been proscribed by his role in the funeral rites, and Will had been proscribed by his as head healer and senior counselor. They needed to be able to discuss everything that had happened as themselves.

“We do,” Nico agreed.

Will stood and stretched, and then he took Nico’s chin in his hand and kissed him.

They’d shared plenty of kisses since they’d started their relationship, but this one was different. Their previous kisses had been chaste, lips only. Now, though . . .

One soft kiss led to another, and Will captured Nico’s lower lip between his, nibbled on it. There was the slightest touch of his tongue, and the butterflies resurrecting in Nico’s stomach were now bats.

Will released his mouth. “I love you,” he breathed, and before Nico could restart his brain, Will was gone.

***

There was nothing Eliza loved to eat so much as breakfast, so her funeral feast consisted entirely of breakfast foods. Bacon, sausage, eggs, hash browns, pancakes, French toast, waffles, and fresh fruit were laid out on tables in the dining pavilion, and the campers loaded their plates. The Romans had been distributed among the tables, filling all the empty seats. Normally, Nico, Percy and Jason would have their Big Three table, but it looked like tonight, Nico would be sharing the Hades table with Hazel, Frank and a bunch of Romans he wasn’t familiar with.

As he walked into the pavilion, though, he heard someone shout, “Nico! It’s our Nico!” just before he was summarily mobbed and group-hugged by most of the Apollo cabin. It was so startling that he automatically shadow-traveled out of their midst to the safety of his own table. The group hug folded in on itself in a confused muddle.

“Guys, stop freaking Nico out,” said Will mildly, grinning.

Nico sat down across from Hazel, feeling slightly rattled not only by the enthusiastic greeting he’d just received, but seeing Will again after his declaration and that _kiss_. Frank was grinning. Hazel was . . . not looking at him.

The penny dropped. “You came back to the Hades cabin, didn’t you?”

“Yes,” she confirmed, still not looking directly at him.

“And you saw Will and me, uh . . .”

“Snuggling?”

Nico ran a hand through his hair. “He needed to get some rest, and he wouldn’t have gotten any peace in the Apollo cabin, so I invited him to take a nap in the Hades cabin.”

“And Will, being polite and all, chose to nap in your bed so that Hazel could use hers, right?” Frank asked, still grinning.

Nico had liked him better when he was clueless. “Yes, Frank, that’s exactly it.”

Hazel’s dark skin didn’t show blushes easily, but he could tell one was there. “It’s okay, Nico. Will is a very nice boy, and you two don’t need my permission to do . . . whatever.”

“We didn’t ‘whatever’!” Nico noted, much to his chagrin, that the other Romans at the table were listening to the conversation with great interest. “It was just a nap. We were tired. We slept. That’s all.”

“And cuddled?” This time, there was a spark of humor in Hazel’s eyes. “I assume he’s going to make an honest man out of you. Can I be flower girl at your wedding?” She batted her eyelashes.

Frank burst into a huge laugh. Nico gave him a death glare. “I’m going to get some dinner.” He got up and trudged toward the buffet.

“Hey, Nico, how’s it going?” Jason asked as he headed back to the Zeus table.

“Don’t start with me, Grace,” Nico growled, leaving one very confused son of Jupiter in his wake.

In spite of his demeanor, however, Nico still got hugged twice before he even reached the food, once by Alice Miyazawa and once by Ryan. And people kept greeting him, asking how he was and thanking him for the work he did on Eliza’s funeral rites. He even got invited to the Hephaestus cabin for their “ultimate movie experience” night. Considering the movie in question was _Pacific Rim_ , Nico wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to know what the “experience” was.

“Why are people being so friendly this evening?” Nico wondered aloud as he sat back down.

“They like you,” said Hazel. Nico stared at her. “You thought you could do all that for Eliza and her family and not make people think you’re nice under your scary ‘I’m the son of Hades’ façade? Brother, please.”

“Marshmallow,” said Frank. 

Nico treated him to another death glare. “Anyway, Hazel, sorry for scarring your eyes and not letting you get a nap, too.”

“Oh, it’s perfectly okay. I went back to the Roman encampment and took my nap there.” She took a bite of her eggs. “With Frank.”

Nico discovered that orange juice coming through the nose _hurt_. The Romans laughed their asses off, the jerks.

“Your attention, please,” called Chiron, much to Nico’s relief. The campers quieted down. “We are gathered this evening in honor of Eliza Hanson, daughter of Apollo, who fell in battle. To Eliza!” He held up his drink.

The campers joined the toast. “To Eliza!”

Chiron ceded the floor to Amanda Hanson. Eliza’s mother looked exhausted, but at peace.

“I wanted to thank all of you,” she said. “Eliza loved this camp. After her first visit, she couldn’t wait to come back. She loved her friends, and she loved her brothers and sisters.” Amanda turned slightly to address the Apollo table. A few of the campers there wiped away tears. “Thank you all for loving her and encouraging her, especially you, Will. When she wasn’t dancing or practicing archery, she talked about becoming a physical therapist to help dancers with injuries. I also want to thank Nico and Hazel.” Her eyes found them at the Hades table. “Especially you, Nico. I don’t think I’d have survived these past two days without your help. I’ll do what you told me to do; I’ll live valiantly. Eliza showed me how.” The campers applauded her. When they quieted down, she continued. “Finally, thank you, Chiron and Mr. D, for giving me special dispensation to be here. I know mortals aren’t usually allowed, but I’m so glad I got to meet Eliza’s other family. I’ll always be grateful for Eliza’s life and what she gave to me. All I ask is that you remember her, and be kind to each other.”

As she stepped down into the embrace of the Apollo campers, the whole camp stood and applauded.

***

Amanda left after dinner. The Apollo cabin was there to see her off, as were Eliza’s friends, a few of the senior counselors, and Nico.

Will hugged her for a long time. “We’re always going to remember you and Eliza. I promise.”

“I know.” Amanda released him and turned to Mia. “She idolized you, too.”

Mia hugged her. “I talked to my parents today. Mom said she’s going to be in touch, and when my mom says that, she means it. You can always talk with her and my stepdad.”

“And I’m coming to visit, don’t forget,” said Kayla.

Austin set a hand on Amanda’s shoulder. “Seriously, you will never be without some Apollo kid knocking on your door.”

After hugging most of the Apollo cabin, Amanda turned to Nico. “Thank you again, so much, Nico. Eliza talked about you all the time after camp last year. I see why.”

Nico took her hand, held it between his. Her grief was still terribly painful, but she was bearing up with a strength that staggered him. “If you ever need me, look for me in your dreams. If I’m asleep at the same time as you are, I’ll find you.”

Finally, Amanda turned to Apollo. “Thank you for giving her to me, Apollo. She was worth it. Every second of her life was worth it.”

Apollo took her hands. “If I am allowed to become a god again, Amanda, I swear to you, in her name, on the River Styx, that I will never again go so long without meeting a child of mine. And I will never forget her so long as the sun rises.”

A little smile, so much like her daughter’s, graced Amanda’s face. “I’m beginning to remember why I liked you in the first place.”

One last group hug, and Amanda stepped into a waiting chariot with Butch and satyr Woodrow. She blew the camp a kiss, and the pegasi took off.

Warm, strong arms wrapped around Nico from behind. And while Nico was never much for public displays of affection, he had no desire to pull away this time. He leaned back into his boyfriend’s embrace and watched the chariot disappear.

***

The following day, camp life was mostly back to abnormal. The Hermes cabin glitter-bombed the Aphrodite cabin so severely that most of the Aphrodite kids ended up in the infirmary getting glitter washed out of their eyes before it could damage their corneas. This led to Piper, who normally tried to stay out of these things, calling in a favor with Lou Ellen, and long story short, every single Hermes camper was soon sporting a glam rock makeover that wouldn’t fade for two days.

Nico taught the morning swordfighting class for the younger kids and then helped Sherman and Ellis (who’d matured greatly over the past year, thank the gods) beat up on the Ares kids. Clarisse had conscripted Nico into helping her train her campers the previous summer. Ares kids tended to be big and muscular, though it wasn’t an absolute rule, and few of them had believed that someone like Nico could hurt them. He’d corrected that misconception in no time.

After his official duties were over, Nico walked down to the lake and found the quiet spot where he and Will liked to meet. There was a big log they could sit on, sheltered by a few trees and tall grasses so they weren’t immediately obvious to any onlookers.

Will was already there, sitting on the log and looking pensive. Nico wordlessly sat by him. Will would speak when he was ready to.

After a few minutes, he did. “She was basically dead when she came in; her heart just hadn’t gotten the message. It had to be a gryphon that grabbed her; it broke several of her ribs, and its claws stabbed her in the chest and abdomen. When it dropped her, she broke more bones and sustained a severe concussion. If we’d gotten to her right away, it still wouldn’t have been easy to heal her. By the time the Romans found her, she had bleeding in her brain, she’d lost almost a third of her blood volume, her heart was struggling to get enough blood to her organs, which were beginning to fail, and one of her lungs had collapsed. That’s how they found her; they heard her struggling to breathe.”

Will stopped, and it took him a few moments to continue. “When I touched her, I knew she was beyond help. I just wouldn’t believe it. I wanted to save her so badly that I pushed away the truth. Chiron once cautioned me against using my life energy to sustain someone else. He said it could kill me. But in that moment, I-I didn’t care. I had to save her. I had to.”

“But you couldn’t,” said Nico.

“No, I couldn’t. But I wouldn’t believe it. In my mind, if I just held onto her long enough, I could bring her back, and I was using my own life to try to keep her. I couldn’t even hear my siblings. They told me they were shouting at me to stop, and I couldn’t hear them.”

He looked at Nico, eyes wet. “But I heard you. ‘No.’ You stopped me, cut her loose. It hurt.”

Nico refused to look away. “I know. I’m sorry.”

Will blinked hard, fighting the tears threatening to spill. “I was so angry. Every instinct I have as a healer is to save people, and you stopped me. It didn’t matter that I couldn’t have saved her. Part of me – part of me wanted to tell you that if I couldn’t save someone, I might as well die, because that’s my whole purpose.”

“Will . . .” Nico shrank at the very thought.

“And when I thought about it later, I realized . . .” A tear escaped and rolled down his face. “I realized it wasn’t about Eliza at all. I was furious and attacked you because you stopped me from doing the only thing that makes me a worthy child of Apollo. My claim to pride. If I can’t heal, what am I?” Nico tried to cut in, but Will raised a hand. “Let me finish. I stayed in the infirmary afterward because I didn’t want to confront my failure. I didn’t want my siblings and – and my father to see me for what I was. It was pride, Nico. Hazel made me confront my fears, but I didn’t confess my biggest sin to her. So I’m telling you. You deserve to know why your boyfriend, who loves you, and I truly do, Nico, acted like he was about to kill you in there.”

For a long while, Nico was silent. Untold minutes crawled by. Finally, he slid his hand into Will’s.

“I never held it against you, you know,” Nico told his boyfriend. “You were in shock and pain. And I don’t believe for a moment you’d have actually hurt me. And as for pride?” He gave a short, humorless laugh. “There’s a reason it was the Ancient Greeks who named the concept of hubris. We all have it, Will. I met mine when I decided I could shadow-travel the Athena Parthenos across a continent and an ocean. I nearly killed myself because I’d decided my abilities were the only thing that made me worth anything. If I could just show them how powerful I am, maybe I’d stop caring what other people thought of me. Especially Percy.”

He looked at Will. “You were the one who really showed me otherwise. You made me think of myself differently. These past few days wouldn’t have been what they were without you and the way you showed me how I’m a healer. You brought me into your insane family and taught me how to be a human again.” Nico had a sudden realization that was so obvious he couldn’t believe he hadn’t seen it before. “And that’s why I love you. Because I do, Will Solace. I really do. It has nothing to do with your powers. It’s because of who you are.”

He barely finished the sentence before Will’s lips were on his in a kiss that made him dizzy. Nico was suddenly desperate to be closer to him. He turned, setting one knee on the log so he could face Will, almost straddling him, deepening the kiss. The bats in his stomach were now harpies. This tongue-kissing thing was . . . it was good. Nico ran his hands into Will’s hair and held on as Will wrapped his arms around him, running his hands up Nico’s back.

And when Will’s mouth moved away from Nico’s and he began kissing Nico’s neck . . .

The sudden surge of pleasure was overwhelming, too much. Without even thinking about it (his brain was offline at the moment), Nico pushed away and fell on his ass. He and Will stared at each other.

Will slid off the log and sat on the ground with his back to it. “Uh . . .”

That was the level Nico was operating at, too. “Um, sorry?”

That made Will laugh, sounding a bit hysterical. “I’m pretty sure this isn’t an ‘I’m sorry’ situation. Just, um, intense.”

“Yeah. Intense.” Nico swallowed, wishing his body would cooperate. Standing up wasn’t an option at the moment. “I-I liked that, but . . .”

Will nodded. “Yeah, me, too.” He patted the ground next to him, and Nico managed to shift into the vacant spot. “Listen, you know the whole Sebastian thing, which I talk about approximately as much as you talk about Albania?” Nico shuddered and nodded. “He and I kind of got physical way too quickly.”

Nico felt the sudden weight of jealousy in his stomach. “You mean you two . . ?”

“No, not that,” Will reassured him. “Just a whole bunch of making out. We didn’t have anything in common except attraction and hormones. It made for a bad relationship and a messy breakup. Hence the Solace/McLean embargo on cross-cabin romances.” He took Nico’s hand again. “It’s the last thing I want to happen with you. These last few days have been . . .”

“Intense?” Nico supplied.

“That one. I like kissing you, Nico, I like it a lot. I like to touch you and hold you and I loved falling asleep in your arms yesterday.” Will smiled his sunshine smile. “But I don’t want us to get ahead of ourselves.”

Nico looked down. “Sometimes, I’m scared you’ll want more than I do, and I won’t be ready. But sometimes, I want . . . everything with you, and now, because I always feel like I’m on the edge of losing you, you know? Like being happy with you can’t last.”

“It will.” Will’s voice was firm, a declaration. “It will last. We have time Nico. I believe that with everything in me.”

Nico looked into his eyes. “Then I’ll believe it, too.”

Will suddenly sat up a little straighter and touched Nico’s chin, turning his head to face him a little more directly. “Your eyes.”

“What?”

“Nico . . . they have a little color in them.” Will gave a delighted laugh. “Just a little, right around the rim of your irises.”

Nico’s eyes had once been brown, but they’d faded over the years. They’d gone completely colorless after Tartarus.

“Are you sure?” he asked Will. “Maybe it’s a trick of the light.”

Will shook his head. “No. I’ve seen your eyes in exactly this light before. There’s definitely color there. I wonder what it means.”

Nico had no idea, but he also had no desire to try and find out at the moment, either. “We can think about it later. Right now . . .” Nico found himself interrupted by a yawn.

Will turned into a healer again. “You have to be tired after emotionally supporting my whole cabin for three days. Come on.” He guided Nico so he was lying against Will’s chest. “Afternoon nap. Doctor’s orders.”

“ ‘Doctor’s orders,’” Nico scoffed, but didn’t try to pull away. He relaxed against his boyfriend, letting the warmth lull him to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will and Nico's talk did not go at all the way I'd envisioned it. Sometimes, as you're writing, a character takes over and says, "You've got it all wrong. This is why I did what I did." That's exactly what Will did to me.


	6. The Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico finally gets The Talk; the new guy fails to impress; Apollo makes a startling declaration; eye color is discussed; Big Ben comes crashing to the ground; and Nico and Will waffle at each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A quick heads-up: There will be some scattered sexist, racist and homophobic insults in this chapter, coming from a big bully. Don't worry; he gets his comeuppance.

The Making-Out Incident, as Nico unconsciously labeled it, haunted him for the next few days. Kissing Will like that had been thrilling and scary in equal measures. Nico found himself reliving the moments before he’d so gracefully fallen on his ass at inconvenient times. Like when Hazel was trying to talk to him at dinner.

She thumped him on the side of the head. “Have you heard a word I’ve been saying?”

Nico tore his eyes away from the Apollo tale, where Will was having an animated discussion with his siblings, and looked at his sister. “What? Sorry!”

Hazel shook her head, grinning. “Brother of mine, you have it bad.”

“Like you don’t moon over Frank,” Nico shot back. He ate a fry and resolutely did not return to staring at Will.

“Anyways,” Hazel drawled, “I was going to ask if you’d help me out tomorrow when we head back to Camp Jupiter through the Labyrinth. I’m still not feeling too secure about going it on my own. Leo said he needs to fetch the barge, anyway, so you can take the Festus Express back here.”

“Time alone with Leo. Just what I wanted.” Nico dodged another thump. “Of course I’ll help.”

Hazel winked at him. “If you don’t want to be alone with Leo, you could always ask your boyfriend if he’d go with.”

Nico felt his ears heat, and he sincerely hoped his hair was covering them well enough for Hazel not to notice. “He has his duties. I doubt I could pry him away from his cabin or the infirmary right now.”

“Actually, Jason said he needs to get back to Camp Jupiter,” said Frank. “Piper might decide to tag along.”

Piper. Suddenly, Nico had the answer to a question he wasn’t even aware he’d been asking. If she did come along, that would be perfect. If she didn’t, he could still meet privately with her. He felt better immediately.

“So, Frank,” said Nico, “are you going to favor us with a song at the campfire tonight?”

Frank thought about it. “Maybe I’ll turn into a wolf and howl at the moon.”

***

Piper did indeed accompany Jason back to Camp Jupiter. As Aphrodite senior counselor, she’d done her own share of emotional heavy lifting after Eliza’s death, and she needed a break. The return journey to Camp Half-Blood gave her some time to herself after saying goodbye to her boyfriend. Or, to be strictly accurate, time with just one other person, as Leo and Calypso were riding the dragon. And Nico, at least, could be counted on not to talk unnecessarily, which made him her very favorite person at that moment.

“This is nice,” she sighed, lying back in one of the seats. “I love my sibs and all, but sometimes, the drama makes me want to hogtie and gag the lot of them.”

“That’s where I win with having a cabin all to myself.” Nico smirked. “If there’s drama, I have no one to blame except me.”

“Do you cause a lot of drama with yourself?”

“In my defense, myself is kind of unreasonable.”

They both laughed. Since Piper had talked Nico down from a Tartarus nightmare/flashback the previous summer, he’d shown her increasing amounts of trust, which was something she took great pride in. Nico didn’t give his trust easily, but Piper was aware of and understood emotions and relationships in the same way Hazel understood the earth under her feet. Nico, on the other hand was coming off of years of repressing, denying and hiding his emotions. He’d called her several times to talk about his relationship with Will, which seemed to mystify him to some extent. Honestly, though, Piper thought they were too cute to be real.

“How are things going with Will?” she asked, always interested.

“O-okay,” Nico stammered. Was he blushing? “I, um, have some things I wanted to ask you, if that’s okay?”

“Always. Let’s hear it.” She held up a finger. “Wait. On one condition: Stop terrifying Sebastian.”

“I am not . . .” Nico stopped for a moment. “. . . I’m totally terrifying Sebastian, aren’t I?”

Piper nodded. Granted, it was kind of amusing, given how annoying her brother could be, but still. “You’ve got a hell of a death glare. He’s now afraid to leave the cabin without someone scouting out where you are first. I’ve tried to reassure him that you wouldn’t actually harm him, but I don’t think he believes me.”

Nico sighed. “I’ll tone it down. It’s just . . .”

“He had a relationship, and not a very good one, with your boyfriend, I get that,” said Piper. “It’s natural to feel protective, but Seb’s not a bad guy. He and Will just were not suited to each other. At all.”

“I know, but . . .” Nico trailed off, sighing again. “I guess I’m just jealous, because Will was my first kiss, but I’m not his.”

Piper could understand that. “But you’re his first love.”

Nico looked at her sharply. “He just told me he loves me. How did you know?”

She laughed. “Nico, sweetie, everybody at camp with even the smallest amount of emotional awareness can tell that you and Will are head-over-heels crazy in love. Even a few without emotional awareness, come to think of it. I heard Lou Ellen talking about you two the other day, and she lives somewhere off in Lou-Land where the rest of us can only imagine what color the sky is.”

Lou Ellen was very nice, very sweet, and a very good witch, but she didn’t appear to inhabit the same world as everyone else. Everyone liked her, but no one could quite explain her.

“Well, um, anyway, I, uh . . .” Nico was definitely blushing. “Things are going well, but I wanted to ask you, or someone, about, uh . . . you know.”

Piper made a heroic effort not to look amused. “I’m getting your gist in general, but you’re going to have to be a little more specific than that, honey.”

Nico gave a groan of frustration and scrubbed his hands over his face as if to erase his blush. “What I mean is, Will and I were, uh, kissing the other day, and it got pretty, well, heated.” He paused and amended, “Um, above-the-waist heated, not below-the-waist heated.”

“Ah.” So, it was about sex. “I take it this was the first time it got quite that heated?”

Nico nodded. “It was just . . . we were talking about everything that had happened, he told me he loved me, I told him I loved him, and we started kissing, and everything felt really good, but then I sort of got, you know, freaked out and pulled away, and I don’t know the first thing about this. About any of this. I don’t even know how . . . how two guys would, um . . .”

There was something terribly sweet about how much Nico must have trusted her to be speaking to her like this, and Piper was deeply touched. “Look, Nico, it’s totally normal to feel a little scared when your relationship starts to change. Sex is a powerful force.” She watched Nico’s blush deepen. As Aphrodite senior counselor, she’d had to become pretty comfortable with sex talk, and at the moment, she was very glad of it. “I’m not just talking about the physical act, either; I’m talking about the emotions and desires you’re having with Will right now.”

When Nico met her eyes again, she was surprised to see that his were full of tears. “What if I mess everything up? He-he’s so wonderful, he makes me so happy, I sometimes think this is just a cruel dream that I’ll wake up from. And I don’t know what I’m doing, at all. What if he wants something from me that I can’t give him?”

Piper couldn’t stand it anymore. She moved to the chair right next to Nico’s and hugged him. He leaned into her. The boy who couldn’t stand to be touched a year earlier slid his arms around her waist and laid his head on her shoulder.

“It’s like I told you once,” she murmured in his ear. “None of us knows what we’re doing, not really. But we make it work, anyway, because we love each other. You and Will are going to figure this out.” She made him look at her. “If you want materials – hey, wait, do your eyes have color now?”

She stared in fascination. The rims of his irises, which had been pure black, were softer, more of a dark brown, and there were little glimmers of gold and green in his shattered-glass eyes. It was a strange and beautiful image.

“They’re changing; I don’t know why,” said Nico. “Will was the one who noticed it first.”

“I’ll bet.” Piper felt, instinctively, that it was important, and made a mental note to mention it to Annabeth. If anyone would be able to come up with an explanation, it would be the daughter of Athena. “Back to the subject, though: I can set you up with some materials on gay sex. We’ve got every possible thing anyone could want to know, and even more things people do not want to know, in the Aphrodite cabin. I’ll get you some, discreetly. Just know that whatever you learn about what some people do? It’s not a requirement for being gay. What happens in your relationship with Will is up to the two of you and nobody else.”

Nico toyed with one of her rings. “How will I know when it’s time to . . . you know?”

“Well, something I tell my campers is that it’s always sometime after you can actually say the words to each other and not ‘you know,’ you know?” Nico gave her a slightly-dirty look. “I’m serious. Kind of. You and Will need to be able to talk about sex with each other openly before you start doing it. About what you want, about what you don’t want, about what scares you and what intrigues you . . . and until you can do that, it’s best to keep things above the waist. You can even set a waiting period. Jason and I, for instance, we’ve decided that we’re not going to have sex until we’re both at least seventeen. For us demigods, especially, relationships can get so intense so fast. We want to make sure we have a good foundation of friendship and things in common before we introduce sex into the mix. It takes some of the pressure off.”

Nico almost looked relieved. “That might be a good idea. I should talk it over with Will, shouldn’t I?”

“That would be a good idea.” Piper squeezed him. “You two are a great couple. Trust yourselves, okay?”

“I trust him. Me, not always, but I trust him.” Nico’s bashful smile was so sweet that it just about broke Piper’s heart. She squeezed him again. “Thanks for talking to me about this. I didn’t know who else I could ask.”

“Nico, it’s a privilege.” She meant it, too. “How about we watch a movie now? Leo’s got _Mad Max: Fury Road_ on the in-flight entertainment system.”

“That movie is awesome.”

“It totally is. Furiosa is my girl crush.”

Nico thought about it. “Mine, too.”

They passed the next few hours watching movies as Leo piloted Festus to Camp Half-Blood. As they began their approach, Leo’s voice came over the PA.

“If you’ll look out the right side of the barge, _amigo y amiga_ , you’ll see some kind of fight going on. Looks like some new recruits are meeting the welcome wagon.”

Piper and Nico looked. Sure enough, about a mile from Half-Blood Hill, there was a fight going between a few humans, a satyr and a manticore.

“Looks like they could use some help,” said Piper.

Nico drew his sword. “Want to play?”

Piper drew hers. “I don’t have anything better to do right now.”

Nico grabbed her hand and pulled her into a shadow. There was a quick rush of darkness, and then they were emerging from a tree’s shadow at ground level. The manticore was huge, the size of a draft horse, plus wings and a scorpion tail.

Piper and Nico charged in. “I’ve got the tail!” he shouted. Piper spotted a girl, maybe ten or eleven, who’d fallen down, and ran to protect her. She registered satyr Forrest trying to distract it away, as well as a big, blond guy.

“Over here, Big Ugly!” she yelled at the manticore, putting charmspeak into her words. It turned and snarled at her with its oversized teeth. She lifted her Boread sword and danced out of range as it swiped at her.

It was enough of a distraction for Nico to do his work. The manticore screamed and reared as the son of Hades chopped off its tail. Piper, seeing an opening, dodged in and drove her sword hilt-deep into its chest. The monster burst into golden dust, which swirled around her and then blew away into the darkening evening.

For a moment, she and Nico stood, panting a little, in the aftermath of the fight. Then Piper sheathed her sword and went back to look at the girl. She was very pretty, dark-skinned and dark-eyed with wavy, shining black hair. Piper thought she might be of Indian extraction. There was a deep cut on her forehead, and she looked dazed.

“I’ll take her straight to the infirmary,” Nico volunteered. He scooped the girl up with no apparent difficulty, and Piper was again reminded of how physically strong he was, in spite of his size. “I’ll call in an escort for you guys when I get there. Stay safe.” He and the girl dissolved into the shadows.

As Piper stood, Forrest approached. “Thank you. The whole trip was uneventful until just now. I was bringing in two new demigods, the girl and the, er, big guy.” He tipped his head, and Piper sized up the new kid.

“Big” was certainly an apt descriptor. He had that half-finished look to him that made Piper think he couldn’t have been over fourteen, but he was already over six feet tall and hulking. His hair was light blond, almost platinum, and his face . . . Piper charitably thought he might improve as puberty took its course. It looked like his nose had been broken at least once, he had babyish round cheeks not unlike Frank Zhang’s once upon a time, and his eyes were dark and beady. Combined with a mouth that looked like it was set in a permanent sneer, and he gave the overall impression of a pig with a bad attitude.

“Pretty pussy monster if it could get taken down by a girl,” he scoffed.

Piper didn’t think they’d be getting along.

***

Nico appeared in the infirmary, making Marcus jump. “Gods, di Angelo, you’re going to give me a heart attack one of these days!”

“Sorry,” Nico said, feeling not at all apologetic. “This girl got in a tangle with a manticore. Piper and I took care of it, but there’s at least one new camper who might need an escort.”

Will stepped out of the recovery ward. “Marc, why don’t you alert Chiron. Nico, set her down on the exam table.”

The girl still looked shocked and befuddled, and she was shivering a little. Will tucked a blanket around her and did a quick examination using his powers. He smiled at her gently.

“Nico, would you grab some butterfly closures?” Will grabbed a washcloth and a basin and started cleaning the cut on the girl’s forehead and talking to her in a soothing voice. “Don’t worry, honey, you’re not badly injured. Just some bumps and bruises and this cut. You’ll be sore tomorrow. That’s pretty lucky for meeting a manticore. Good thing you had Nico on your side.”

“Piper got the kill,” said Nico, bringing over the closures.

“Piper’s another good person to have on your side.” Will finished cleaning the cut and started pressing the closures into place. “And just so you know, I’m Will Solace, the head medic here at Camp Half-Blood. What’s your name?”

“N-Nicky Ray,” the girl whispered.

“I’m happy to meet you, Nicky Ray. I like your name. Sounds a bit like Nico, and I like Nico here very much.” Will winked at his boyfriend, who tried not to blush. “Nicky, has anyone explained to you what this place is?”

Nicky nodded, her dark eyes very serious. “Forrest said I’m a demigod, like in Greek myths. He said that’s why monsters attack me.”

Nico brought over a packet of ambrosia, and Will broke off a piece and gave it to the girl. “That’s right, Nicky. Everyone here is a demigod. I’m a son of Apollo. Nico is a son of Hades. We’ll probably find out who your parent is soon enough.” Nicky ate the piece of ambrosia, her eyes going wide at the taste, and Will glanced up at the doorway as someone else entered. “Oh, hey, speaking of my father, here he is. Nicky, meet Apollo, the sun god. He got turned into a human for a while. Apollo, meet Nicky Ray. She just came in.”

Apollo was staring at Nicky. He came closer, looking at her from several angles. “Nicky Ray,” he murmured. “Nicky, tell me: Is your mother Eileen Ray, the champion target shooter?”

Nico glanced between the fallen god and the girl, suddenly having an idea of what was about to happen, but not quite able to believe it.

Nicky nodded. “Yes. How did you know?”

Apollo took the girl’s hands in his. “Because I knew her quite well at one time, and I’m very pleased to meet you, Nicky. You see . . . I’m your father.”

***

It made history as the most unusual Claiming to ever take place at Camp Half-Blood. Apollo’s sigil never did show up over her head, which made sense, as Apollo didn’t have the ability to make it do so. However, he was confident she was his child; the timeline for when he’d had his relationship with her mother was right, and no other god Claimed her. She also proved to be quite adept with a bow and arrow.

The Apollo cabin was only too happy to take her under its offbeat wing, too. Having a new little sister didn’t heal the wound of having lost Eliza, but it did help them to find a new focus.

Speaking of focus, Nico found himself under Annabeth’s metaphorical microscope after Piper told her about his eyes. The daughter of Athena had his chin in her hand as she examined them.

“Hmm,” she commented.

Nico was finding it all just a little uncomfortable, especially as Piper, Will and Percy were also gathered around him.

“What do you think?” Nico asked at long last.

Annabeth released his chin. “When did your eyes lose their color in the first place? I remember you had brown eyes when we first met you.”

“I’m not really sure,” said Nico. “It wasn’t like I woke up one morning and it was gone.”

“You know when I first really noticed his eyes had lost all their color?” Percy asked. “It was right after we got you out of that jar. I remember seeing your eyes and thinking they looked like shattered glass. Of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean anything; I didn’t exactly make a habit of looking into Nico’s eyes before then.”

Annabeth nodded her head slowly. “Come to think of it, that was around the time I started noticing his eyes, too. I mean, after we got back from Tartarus, I spoke to Nico briefly, and I definitely noticed then.”

Nico thought about it. “I do remember noticing they were getting lighter before then, but yeah, that could’ve been the-the way they lost all their color. After Tartarus, after going into the death trance. Maybe all the time I spent shadow-traveling and in the Underworld, and using Underworld powers had something to do with it.” It felt true to him, anyway.

“Well, we can certainly keep an eye on it, so to speak,” said Annabeth. “If you have to spend time in the Underworld or use your powers a lot, check on whether your eyes are losing color. As for how they’re getting their color back, what happened just before you noticed, Will?”

Nico shot him a warning look, but Will shrugged, as if to say, “Are you going to argue with her?”

“Nico and I had just had a fairly intense talk,” said Will. “And then we made out for a bit. After that, I noticed the color.”

Percy snickered. Nico thanked all the gods Jason (or Leo, _gods above_ ) wasn’t there. Piper winked at him.

“Come to think of it, I noticed Nico’s eye color as he and I were having a serious discussion, too,” she said.

“If it were serious discussions, though, wouldn’t we have noticed something after our talk last fall, Annabeth?” Percy asked.

She nodded her head, as if conceding the point. “And you’ve been pretty well grounded from unnecessary shadow-travel for the past year, too, Nico. It might . . .” Annabeth bit her lip and thought. “I wonder if it might have something to do with the funeral rites for Eliza.”

“But that’s more of me immersing myself in the Underworld,” Nico felt the need to point out. “If my eyes lost color because of using my Underworld powers or being in the Underworld, why would they regain their color because of funeral rites?”

“You’re a healer.” Will had sat up straight, as if having some kind of revelation. “My empathic abilities get overwhelmed by being around people. When I heal, that gets released. I wonder if handling all of those very human emotions has the same kind of effect on you. Come to think of it, after shadow-traveling all of us, controlling the _eidolons_ and supporting Hazel through the Labyrinth, you should’ve had a lot more darkness in your system than I sensed after the rites. It should’ve taken at least a week for you to purge it all. But you were back down to baseline – I remember feeling it – when I slept with you after the funeral pyre.”

Percy made a choking sound. Annabeth blinked. Piper laughed.

Will seemed to realize what he’d said. “I mean, _slept_ with you, not slept _with_ you.”

“Don’t make it worse, Solace,” Nico muttered.

Piper doubled over with laughter. “Oh, gods, if only Jason were here!”

“I’d be running far and fast if he were,” said Will.

“Okay, enough fun, back to the subject,” Annabeth declared. “Percy, stop looking like a fish. Piper, get ahold of yourself. Going on Will’s speculation, doing the funeral rites actually drew Nico further out of the Underworld spiritually. How to test that is the problem.”

“Any volunteers to be the corpse of honor?” Nico asked.

“I’ll volunteer Big Ben,” said Will.

They all groaned. The big new guy’s name was indeed Ben. He had just turned fourteen and was a child of Ares, which surprised absolutely no one, and he was a dyed-in-the-wool bully. No one was safe. He swaggered around the camp like he owned it and heaped gratuitous insults on everyone for everything.

Except the Ares campers. Nico wasn’t entirely sure what had gone on, but it was apparent they’d explained the pecking order of the Ares cabin to him in a way that even he could understand. So he took his need for bullying out on everyone else. And right now, the only question was when he’d finally go too far.

In general, cabins tended to look after their members. However, the Ares cabin operated with a certain Darwinian philosophy when it came to new campers. Prove you were fit, and they’d back you up. Big Ben hadn’t proven that yet, his siblings would not take his side automatically, and everyone knew there was a target on his back. The Hermes cabin was taking bets as to who would be the first to take aim.

Nico was aware there were drachma riding on his name. The Ares cabin had been on a different weapons rotation since Ben had arrived, so Nico hadn’t gotten the chance to demonstrate why Big Ben might not want to mess with him.

“Big Ben. There’s a guy whose ass-to-ears ratio needs adjusting,” said Percy.

“I’m personally rooting for Leo,” Piper said. “Big Ben called Nyssa a ‘wetback lesbo’ the other day when she declined his offer to give him a blowjob.”

Nico hoped no one noticed his blush. Thanks to Piper’s loan of materials from the Aphrodite cabin, he now knew what a blowjob was, but he still wasn’t quite sure what he thought of the concept. Intrigued? Certainly. Somewhat freaked out? Oh, yes.

“Ugh, he’s so awful.” Will rubbed the bridge of his nose, as if the thought of the boy was giving him a migraine. “I can’t believe his name is Ben. That’s my grampa’s name. I just wish Clarisse were here. I’d love to see him get beaten up by a girl.”

Annabeth grabbed Nico’s hand, making him jump a little. “Hey, that reminds me: Xandra talked to me the other day about holding an all-girl sword workshop.” Xandra Vane was the senior girl in the Ares cabin now that Clarisse had graduated. “Do you want to help out?”

“I could help,” said Percy.

Annabeth waved a hand dismissively. “You’re good, Percy, but you rely a lot on your reach and upper-body strength. That’s not something a lot of girls can count on. Nico’s fighting style is more about agility, good defense and finding openings in your opponent’s form. And fighting dirty, of course.” She grinned at Nico. “What do you think?”

Nico grinned back. “Sounds fun.”

***

Will Solace sighed as he applied salve to one of the many, many bruises on Big Ben’s body. The huge new Ares kid was sitting on a low exam table, blubbering messily, and Will knew he should’ve expected this.

The day had started off so nicely, too. Most of the girls at camp had joined in on the sword workshop. Xandra had chased off some early wolf-whistlers (Connor Stoll was going to be limping for a week), and Nico had taken his duties as co-instructor seriously. Will, Percy, Sherman and a few other guys were allowed to watch so long as they didn’t try to take over.

It had really been a treat to watch, too. Mia had learned a sword-and-dagger hybrid style from Alyssa Belle Darling, and Piper was learning it from her, Boread sword in one hand and Katoptris in the other. A few other girls, including Annabeth, were also watching and learning. Xandra had paired up the other campers according to skill level and gone over basic drills with the lower-level learners while Nico taught some of the more advanced ones. Even little Nicky had gamely faced off against Billie Ng.

And it had all gone quite well until Big Ben made an appearance. He’d sneered at Nico, saying, “Well, looky here. It’s a fag teaching a bunch of bitches!”

Everything had gone silent. By some terrible coincidence, Will had been standing closest to Ben, who caught him staring in disbelief and gave him a shove.

Things had evidently gone very, very badly for Ben after that.

“So,” Will said conversationally, “after I headed off to the infirmary to beat the rush, what exactly happened?”

Ben could hardly get the words out through his sobs. “Sh-Sherman said I challenged _him_ -” Will assumed he meant Nico “-and handed me a sword, and-and-and I tried to fight him, b-but he kept hitting me with his sword! It wasn’t fair!”

_Don’t laugh, Solace_ , he told himself. “That is the general idea of fighting,” was what he said aloud.

“B-but he’s short! And I didn’t think he’d be that mean!” Ben’s voice broke, and he started bawling again.

Will smeared more salve over a deep purple, perfectly round bruise. He assumed it was a perfect fit for the pommel of Nico’s sword. “You can’t make assumptions about people here, Ben. And, really, this is probably the best-case scenario.”

Ben gave him a betrayed look. “What?”

“The way you’ve been acting is not cool.” Will looked him straight in the eyes. “You’ve basically been calling out the whole camp ever since you got here. Maybe you could scare everybody at your school, but here?” Will shook his head. “Most of the kids here have been through at least one actual war. Nico’s been through even worse shit. I doubt anyone else could have lived his life and not been reduced to a gibbering wreck by now. Do you really think you rank as a threat to someone like him? Hint: You don’t. The only reason you even rated his attention is that you laid a hand on me, and Nico does not take threats to people he loves well at all.”

Will applied a bandage to one of Ben’s abrasions. He had lots of scrapes and innumerable bruises, but not a single cut. “Nico did this to you without using his powers or even the edge of his sword. And he’s not the only one here who could take you down without breaking a sweat. Demigods don’t live easy lives, and I don’t doubt you’ve had your share of troubles, but if you think you’re going to get by here by bullying everybody, you’re in for a rude shock. Lots of them, actually.” He handed Ben a piece of ambrosia. “Eat this. It’ll help you heal faster.”

Ben eyed it warily. “What does it taste like?”

“To me, it tastes like my mama’s peach cobbler. To my brother Ken, it tastes like the miso soup his _obaasan_ makes. My new little sister Nicky thinks it tastes like the Krispy Kreme donuts she and her mom would celebrate with after one of her mom’s shooting competitions. To you, I don’t know. Something that’s familiar and comforting.” Ben ate the ambrosia, and for a moment, he actually looked kind of sweet and sappy. “What’s the verdict?”

“Snickerdoodles,” Ben mumbled. “My grandma . . .” He trailed off, eyes sad.

Will nodded, understanding. Maybe there was some hope for the kid, after all. “It’s ambrosia. It helps us heal, but you have to be careful with it. Too much will burn you up from the inside.” He took off his gloves and made a perfect basket in the trash can across the room. “So, what have we learned today, other than ‘Do not hack off Will’s boyfriend’?”

Ben went back to sulking. “People here aren’t nice.”

“If by ‘aren’t nice,’ you really mean, ‘aren’t so scared of me that they’ll let me do whatever I want,’ you’re right. Lou Ellen could turn you into a pig. Percy could make a toilet explode in your face. Leo could set you on fire, and after what you said to his sister Nyssa, I can tell you that he’s giving it serious thought. And my brother Austin has just perfected a particularly nasty ‘earworm’ curse. If he hits you with it, you’ll be mentally singing some hideously catchy Miley Cyrus song for the next week.” Ben looked utterly terrified. “And if you somehow manage to harm Nico, I will personally load you into the Apollo cabin’s chariot and dump you off somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean. Understand?”

Ben nodded, face white.

“Good.” Will smiled and patted him on an un-bruised portion of his skin. “My doctor’s advice for you now is to make nice with your siblings. They will give you shit. Show them that you can take it and that you’re willing to learn from them. Also, apologize to Nyssa before the Hephaestus cabin sends their mini-bots after you. And apologize to Piper before she decides to either kick your ass herself or turn a blind eye while Drew plays with you. And apologize to everyone else you’ve acted like an ass to over the past few days. That’s about three-quarters of the camp, by the way; you’ll be busy.”

Ben nodded again and cleared his throat. “S-sorry for shoving you.”

Will gave him a smile of approval. “You’re forgiven. See how easy that was? If you have any further medical issues, my door is always open.” Will handed Ben back his shirt. “You missed lunch, but if you sweet-talk the harpies, they’ll make you a sandwich. Go on.”

Ben reluctantly got up, pulling on his shirt and wincing at his bruises. As he was leaving, he suddenly skittered to the side of the doorway, giving Nico, who was just entering, a wide berth. Nico deliberately did not notice him. Ben fled.

“You missed lunch,” said Nico, setting down a sandwich and a cream soda.

“Yes, because I was treating the many, many minor injuries you inflicted upon that poor, sweet, innocent boy.” Will grabbed the sandwich and took a huge bite.

Nico snorted, leaning against the exam table. “The Ares cabin approved.”

“Of that, I have no doubt.”

“But I’m still sorry.”

Will looked at him. “I was just needling you, Nico.”

“I know, I just . . .” Nico sighed. “I feel bad that I got that angry with him. He wasn’t a threat. He wasn’t a monster. He’s just a big idiot who laid his hands on the wrong person.” He looked up at Will, face open and vulnerable. “It sometimes scares me, how protective I am of you.”

Will laid the sandwich aside and pulled Nico into his arms. “Listen, Nico, if you hadn’t smacked him down, someone else would have. It was only a matter of time. And, honestly, getting a bunch of bumps and bruises isn’t the worst thing that could’ve happened to him.” He ran his hands over his boyfriend’s back. “And also? I totally threatened him if he ever hurts you. You’re not the only scarily protective one in this relationship. He’ll heal, and if he has any brain at all, he’ll take it as a lesson.”

“That’s an awfully big ‘if,’” Nico noted, voice muffled by Will’s shoulder.

“Yeah, can’t argue with that.” Will pulled back and dropped a quick kiss on Nico’s lips before returning to his lunch.

It took Nico a little while to speak again. “Ah, I talked to Piper the other day, and, uh, she gave me some . . . books and things.”

Will took a drink of his cream soda. He had a pretty good idea of what those “books and things” were about. “Did she?”

Nico ran a hand through his hair and fiddled with his skull ring. “Yeah. She though – I thought – maybe we should, uh, talk? About, um.” He cleared his throat. “About sex.”

Will was fairly glad that living in the Apollo cabin had given him a high spew threshold. It allowed him to seem less rattled that he was, and also not waste his soda. “Yeah, we probably should. Talk. It’s a good idea.”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah.”

“I mean, not right now.”

“Well, no.”

“But maybe . . . soon?”

“Yeah, soon.”

Will looked at Nico, who looked back at him. They both started snickering, then giggling, then laughing.

“This is going to go so well, I can tell already,” Will managed through his gasps.

Nico went into another round of giggles. They were cute. “Should I invite Piper along to make sure one of us is mature enough for this conversation?”

“Oh, please, don’t inflict that on the poor girl. Hasn’t she been through enough?” Will chuckled as he pulled Nico closer. “I am going to kiss you now.”

Nico had no objection to that. He threaded his arms around Will as they kissed, molding their bodies together and making a little contented noise in his throat. It was intoxicating. Will felt light-headed and hot all over. Maybe it was a good idea to talk about sex now, because Will was so, so much into the boy in his arms. They needed to decide on their boundaries before things got even more heated.

At the moment, though, all Will cared about was kissing Nico.

Absently, he registered rapid footsteps outside the clinic, and he and Nico broke apart just as Cecil burst in.

“They need you at the arena, Will,” Cecil panted. “Drew kinda cut off Valentina’s finger. There are hysterics going on. Mostly from Drew. Val fainted.”

Nico looked at Will. “I knew I shouldn’t have taken a break.”

Will wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “You and me both.”

They headed back to the arena together.


	7. Kidnapped!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Apollo cabin plots, Nico kidnaps Will, and a day in New York is free of monsters, but not Italian grandmothers.

It appeared, for better or for worse, that The Talk would have to wait. Will had become annoyingly busy. First, there was the matter of the Big Ben Apology Tour. It wasn’t going entirely well. Nyssa, for one, had been so unimpressed by his apology/pick-up line combo that she’d blackened one of his eyes. He’d gotten in a few other fights, too, one of which had resulted in his clothing being liberally laced with the Hermes cabin’s proprietary itching powder blend. Will patched him up, talked him down, and sent him on his way every time. Nico sincerely hoped the idiot was getting the message, because at this point, Big Ben was seeing more of Will than Nico was, and that was extremely not okay.

Second, some of the monsters missed during the post-battle mop-up operation were showing themselves now that the Romans were gone. There were no more mass attacks, but there were regular scuffles resulting in a steady flow of demigods through the infirmary.

And if all of this wasn’t enough, Camp Half-Blood was experiencing its yearly attack of that worst of all beasts, the summer cold. Campers oozing from various orifices were either crowding the infirmary or needing to be visited in their own cabins. The good thing was that Apollo kids had remarkably strong immune systems. The bad news was that they were stretched awfully thin, and Will the thinnest of all. Nico managed to see him off and on by bringing him food and volunteering in the infirmary, but it wasn’t the same as having time alone together. If anyone had told him how wretched it would feel to have a boyfriend and not be able to spend time with him, he might not have bothered.

Okay, he would have. But it didn’t stop him from feeling wretched.

He came back to his cabin one afternoon in a deep state of grump, intending to engage in some serious sulking about Will, but quickly discovered he wasn’t alone. A soft sniffle disturbed the gloomy silence of the Hades cabin. At the back, kneeling beside the altar, was young Alice Miyazawa. As Nico came closer, he saw that she’d placed six coins on it. They weren’t drachma; they were bronze-colored Japanese coins with a hole in the middle.

Nico knelt beside Alice and simply waited as she prayed and cried. He knew she was here because of Eliza; the two had been such close friends they might as well have been sisters.

The coins arrested his attention. He felt he should understand their meaning. Ken Ishigawa had also left six coins on the Hades altar as Eliza had lain in state, though they had been drachma. The connection was Japanese funeral customs, which would be Buddhist in nature . . .

Of course. The Sanzu River, or the River of Three Crossings. It was similar, in Japanese mythology, to the River Styx in that the dead had to cross it. Instead of just the one coin for Charon, though, it required six.

The only question, then, was why Alice felt the need to leave the coins now. And Nico had the sneaking suspicion that he might know the answer.

“Alice,” he said, “anything you tell me in here is confidential. I won’t tell anyone else.”

She gave a little sob and whispered. “It’s my fault. E-Eliza died because of me.”

Nico absorbed this. “Tell me.”

“There was a _dracaena_. It grabbed me.” Alice sniffled and wiped at her face. Nico handed her a tissue. He always kept a few boxes on hand near the altar. “Someone hit it or something, I’m not sure, but it dropped me. I hit the ground hard. It knocked the wind out of me.” She gave another sob. “Eliza, she was there, she dragged me away. B-but then, suddenly, she dropped me. I-I think I maybe blacked out for a second. When I came to, she wasn’t there.” Alice buried her face in her hands. “And I didn’t think anything was wrong! I thought she’d just gone to get someone else! She saved my life, and I never even asked if she was okay, and if I had, maybe someone would’ve found her, and-and she probably got snatched by the gryphon right then!”

Nico reached out and touched her shoulder. Alice turned from the altar and more or less threw herself at him, and he found himself with an armful of twelve-year-old.

“Alice.” She was crying a wet spot into his shirt. “Alice, listen to me: I know. I’ve known since her funeral pyre.”

That arrested her sobs. She lifted her face from his shirt and looked at him. “You did?”

“Yeah.” Nico grabbed another tissue and wiped her face. “I was with her, in spirit, when she stood in front of the judges of the dead. I know everything about how she died. She was doing her duty, trying to save her friends. She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. It wasn’t your fault.”

“But if I’d realized-”

“You didn’t. That’s not your fault.” Nico sighed. “Apollo is blaming himself because the monsters were here to kill him, and because he thinks it’s his curse that caused a child of his to die. Mia’s blaming herself because she didn’t keep an eye on Eliza. Will’s blaming himself for not being able to heal her when she was past saving. The truth is, the Triumvirate chose to send that army to Camp Half-Blood. Eliza chose to do her duty as a medic. Everything else is just . . . details.” He made Alice look at him. “This isn’t a burden you have to bear. Leave it here, with me. Eliza would never have blamed you.”

Alice summoned a little smile for him. “Y-you really think so?”

He nodded. Before either could say anything more, though, the door burst open, admitting a small delegation of Apollo campers. Mia immediately launched into a speech.

“Nico, something has to be done about – oh, sorry, I didn’t realize you have company.” Mia looked uncertain and a little deflated as Kayla poked her head around her older sibling and Austin ran into Jordan’s back. “Hi, Alice. We’ll come back later.”

“No, don’t go,” Alice protested. “I should be doing arts and crafts now, anyway.” She and Nico both clambered to their feet, and she hugged him. “Thanks, Nico. I’ll remember what you said.”

He hugged her back. There were a limited number of people who he’d given the right to touch him with impunity. Will, Reyna and most of the Seven (save for Leo, because Nico was just never sure what the little maniac would do) had that privilege. But in these moments, when someone was in grief, Nico didn’t mind physical contact. It felt right.

He let her go, and she ducked around the Apollo campers and out of the cabin. “She’s missing Eliza,” Nico explained.

Mia nodded sadly. “Yeah, we do, too. It’s great having Nicky here, but it’s reminding me of when Eliza first came to camp. She was such a sweet little thing.”

Generally, Nico would’ve had all the patience in the world for their renewed grief. At the moment, though, he was a little miffed about their unannounced invasion of his cabin. “So, why are you busting down my door?”

“We need you to do something about your boyfriend,” Jordan said.

Kayla took it from there. “He’s in the infirmary all the time. He hasn’t slept in his own bed in three days.”

“What do you expect me to do about it?” Nico asked, sulking a bit. “It’s not like I see him any more than you guys do these days.”

“We were hoping you’d be so kind as to kidnap him,” said Mia. “Get him out of camp for at least a day, give him a chance to unwind. Will’s doing that thing again where he takes care of everyone but himself.”

Nico rolled his eyes. “That’s what he’s best at. Okay, I’ll do it. See if you can dislodge him from the infirmary tomorrow for breakfast, and I’ll take it from there.”

“I’ll go fetch a crowbar,” volunteered Austin.

***

The next morning, Nico reluctantly dragged himself out of bed earlier than he would have liked to. He showered, put on a pair of worn blue jeans and a t-shirt featuring DEATH from Discworld, and then went to visit the Hecate cabin.

Calypso opened the door. Where to put her had been a subject of great debate. Leo had wanted her in the Hephaestus cabin, but Chiron and Mr. D had put their hoof and foot (respectively) down on that idea. The Hermes cabin was the traditional place for wandering souls, and Chiron had even suggested putting her in a private room in the Big House.

Lou Ellen, however, had argued that Calypso was an age-old sorceress, and even without her powers, she had forgotten more about magic than most of them ever knew, and would be a valuable resource for the Hecate cabin. Calypso, eager to find out if she could recover any of her magic, had agreed with her and moved in as a sort of extremely-senior cabin counselor. Lou Ellen was still the official senior counselor, but Calypso had more experience and, most importantly, a steady head on her shoulders.

Now she looked at Nico with her typical mix of polite interest and ambivalence. She seemed to worry that now that she was mortal, Hades would decide she’d had her time and come to collect her. Or send his son, whichever.

Of course, she had nothing to fear from Nico, but he knew the specter of death would continue to bother the former immortal, and there was nothing he could do about it. He ignored the worry behind her eyes and made his request, which was received with equanimity and filled within a few minutes. Nico thanked them kindly and made his way back to his cabin, Backpack of Holding in hand. He filled it with a few things he thought he’d need and then headed for the dining pavilion.

He was intercepted by Mia, Jordan and Apollo. “We got him out,” Mia announced proudly. “We got him to go back to the cabin to wash up and told him he would be eating with the civilized people in the dining pavilion, which means he had to wear something other than scrubs, so you’re not going to have to undress him.” Jordan guffawed and Mia flushed. “Okay, that came out totally wrong.”

“Or oh-so-very right,” said Jordan, waggling his eyebrows. Mia elbowed him.

Nico shook his head. “All right, I’ll take it from here.”

“What do you have planned?” Apollo asked.

“Nothing much. Just a day in New York. I have a few places I’d like to take him. I brought my sword in case we run into any trouble of the monstrous kind.”

Apollo nodded. “Very wise. It’s best to be prepared for any eventuality. On that, er, general subject, you might want to have this.” He pressed a small, flat item into Nico’s hand.

Nico looked.

It was a condom.

Jordan fell over laughing.

“Dad!” squawked Mia.

***

Will was Not Happy with the way his siblings had strong-armed him. Yes, it was true that he’d spent three solid days in the infirmary, but there was so much to do. He didn’t trust Dan to keep everything running smoothly.

He shoveled eggs into his mouth, anxious to get this enforced rest over with so he could go back to his job. Absently, he glanced over at the Hades table, which was currently being shared by Nico and Percy. Nico was eating a hearty breakfast, which Will was on board with. However, he had a backpack sitting on the table beside him, which sent up warning signals in Will’s brain. Was Nico going somewhere?

The question kept Will from leaving the dining pavilion before his boyfriend. When Nico finally got up, Will excused himself from the Apollo table.

“What’s up with the backpack?” he asked without preamble as he caught up with Nico outside.

“I have a mission.”

A worrisome proclamation. “What’s the mission?”

“You.” With that, Nico seized Will’s hand and pulled him into a shadow.

They emerged in a library, somewhere in the back stacks. Will stood there, stunned, as Nico casually took a swig from a water bottle filled with unicorn draught.

Will gawked at him for a few seconds before articulating what was going through his head. “What the hell, boyfriend?”

“I’m under orders from your cabin,” Nico explained. “They told me to get you out of camp for the day. I accepted the challenge.”

Great. Will had his entire cabin and his boyfriend to be pissed off at now. “So you just kidnapped me?”

Nico seemed pleased he’d caught on so quickly. “Exactly.”

“Take me back. Now.”

“No.”

“Nico.”

“No.”

“I will curse you.”

“Not as bad as Austin will, so, no.”

Darn Austin and his stupid earworm curse . . .

“Will you at least tell me where we are?”

Nico got that adorably shy look he wore when he talked about his feelings. Will tried very hard not to be charmed, because this was a situation for being angry, dammit.

“This library . . . it’s where I went when I was trying to figure out my feelings for you,” Nico said. “It’s where I got those books on being gay. I wanted to show you.”

How could Will stay properly mad at that? He took Nico’s hands, leaned down, and kissed him softly on the lips.

The squeaking of library cart wheels made them break apart. Judging by the look on the library lady’s face, they hadn’t made it quite in time. Thank the gods she was young and seemed more surprised than shocked.

“Noelle,” Nico blurted.

The library lady looked surprised again, took a few steps closer, and her face lit up. “Nico, right? I remember you!” She smiled, open and warm, glancing at the boys’ joined hands.

Nico seemed a little flustered, but happy to see her. “Uh, Will, this is Noelle. She helped me find those books last fall. Noelle, this is Will, my, uh . . .”

“I’m just some guy he kidnapped,” said Will, earning a hard nudge from his boyfriend.

Noelle raised an eyebrow. “But he’s cute, so you decided to kiss him, anyway?”

Will pointed at her. “Exactly!”

“He’s my boyfriend,” said Nico. “Noelle, I’m glad we ran into you. I wanted to thank you for – for being so kind when I came here before.” Nico blushed again.

Noelle gave him a smile sunny enough for the Apollo cabin. “You know, I was just saying to my friend Roger the other day, ‘I wonder whatever happened with that sweet boy who needed help finding books about being gay?’”

Will gave Nico his gooiest look. “He’s my sweet boy now.”

Nico looked pained. “Oh, gods, don’t.”

Noelle laughed. “Okay, you two are seriously cute. Nico, I’m glad I was able to help.”

“Librarians are the unsung heroes of the world,” said Will.

“I like him!” Noelle winked at Nico. “Don’t let this one get away.”

“After I went to all the trouble of kidnapping him? Not likely.” Nico gave Noelle the lite version of his Scary Grin, which deserved the capitals, and probably a trademark.

“In all fairness, he was aided and abetted by my siblings,” said Will.

“And your dad.”

“Really?”

Nico’s ears were turning a deep shade of red. Almost magenta. “Uh, yeah.”

Will made a mental note to pester Nico about that bit of information later. “Why am I not surprised?”

Noelle laughed again. “I have an embarrassing dad, too. I also have a job, which I should be getting back to. Oh, and Nico? I love the shirt.”

Nico gave her his adorably crooked, non-scary smile. “ ‘Lord, what can the harvest hope for, if not for the care of the Reaper Man?’ It’s one of my favorite books.”

Will looked at him curiously. “What was that?”

Nico looked at him, eyes wide. “You don’t know?”

“Terry Pratchett, Discworld, second floor, genre fiction. Nico, take him there at once,” Noelle ordered.

“Definitely. Thanks again, Noelle.” With that, Nico seized Will’s hand and dragged him off.

They left the library with a copy of _Reaper Man_ tucked away in the Backpack of Holding. Nico led Will along a route that seemed familiar to him, pointing out the site where he’d found Ryan. It was apparently active again, with the old construction having been knocked down and a new building going up. They finally stopped outside a little shop that Nico said he’d discovered the last time he’d played hooky from Camp Half-Blood.

“Will, meet Vinyl Destination,” he said.

Will gawked around the vintage record shop as they entered. “Oh. My. Gods. Jordan would have an orgasm.” Nico blushed again. “You know, you’re going to have a hard time keeping up your Underworldy mystique if you keep turning all pink.”

“Shut up,” Nico muttered, blushing even more.

Will cackled and set to exploring the store. There was a lot to look at. There was plenty of vinyl on display, as well as 8-tracks and cassette tapes.

“Jordan insists that music can only be properly represented on analog media, not digital,” Will said as he browsed. “He and Austin go around and around on it – aha! Bachman-Turner Overdrive!” He pulled the record free. “Jordan’s been whining about getting more Canadians in our collection. If I had my wallet, I’d buy it, but I was kidnapped without cash.”

Nico snatched the record from him. “I’ve got it.”

“Nico, I can’t ask you to-”

“What part of ‘Son of Hades’ is difficult for you? Hazel’s not the only one with access to unlimited riches.” Nico pulled a black credit card out of his pack. “Trust me, it won’t even make a dent in Dad’s account.”

“But-”

“Don’t argue. Who kidnapped who, anyway?” Nico gave him the full-force Scary Grin.

Will thought about it. “I must say, you have a point. Hey, is that ZZ Top’s _El Loco_?”

It took Will almost two hours to comb through the store under the baleful eye of the hipster cashier. The boyfriends eventually left bearing six records and a vintage AC/DC shirt.

They stopped for lunch afterward, Nico being persuaded to go for a healthier option than his usual fast food, and spent the afternoon wandering at a relaxed pace.

“How’s Big Ben doing?” Nico asked as they ate ice cream on a park bench.

“He’s, um . . .” Will thought for a minute. “He’s starting to get better. He had a rough life. His mom’s military and spent most of his life overseas, leaving him with his grandmother. He loved his grandmother very much, but they were, in his own words, ‘poor white trash’ who lived in a trailer park. He had trouble at school, of course, and there were some really bad influences near his home. Druggies, Neo-Nazis, general assholes, you name it.”

“His grandmother died,” Nico stated. It was one of those things he must have just known as a son of Hades, because Will had never told him.

“Yeah, when he was twelve,” Will confirmed. “Afterward, his mother moved back to the States. According to Ben, she wasn’t really interested in being a mother, but there were no more relatives he could be pushed off on, so he lived on an Army base in Virginia with her. Hated it, hated the school he had to go to, got into worse trouble, got packed off to a reform-type school after putting a couple of kids in the hospital, and that is where our story picks up.”

“I’d imagine there were some interesting days when he joined the Ares cabin.”

“Oh, yeah. Sherman, Ellis and Xandra put him in his place pretty quickly, and Sherman was just waiting for someone outside the cabin to get fed up with his shenanigans. The minute Ben made his stupid play at the arena, they pretty much knew that was it for him. Gotta say, Sherman was in a state of unholy glee when I talked to him later.”

Nico snorted. “That’s Sherman for you.”

Will laughed. “It’s the Ares cabin philosophy. Survive or fail. Good news is, it seems to be working. Ben’s got it through his head that he’s not going to be able to bully his way through life anymore. He hasn’t entirely figured out what he is going to do, but I think he’s got potential.”

Nico’s hand slid into his, and when Will looked at him, his boyfriend was grinning, and not his Scary Grin. “You have an endless amount of patience for difficult people, you know that?”

“Some of them are worth it.” Will leaned down and gave Nico a peck on the lips. “Ready to move on?”

“Very ready.”

They wandered for a while more in the late-afternoon sun. Will realized, somewhat begrudgingly, that his siblings and boyfriend had been right. He’d needed time away from the infirmary.

He knew it was all part and parcel of how he’d reacted to Eliza’s death. _If I can’t heal, what good am I?_ had echoed in his head on and off since that day. He remembered feeling useless during the buildup to the war with Gaea, unable to use any of the gifts of Apollo to stop the war or do anything except prepare for casualties. But at least he’d been useful in the aftermath.

And Apollo himself had admired Will’s abilities as a healer. Will had always wanted to know his father and hoped he could make him proud. He’d always felt inadequate as an archer or artist, and he had absolutely no prophetic abilities whatsoever. But he had unique gifts as a healer. He remembered a conversation he’d had with Apollo about his empathic abilities earlier in the summer, before things had gone Hades-ward.

_“You have the Gift of Asclepius, Will,” Apollo explained. “Very few of my children have it. It allows you to be more efficient and effective as a healer. It drives you to ease pain, because you feel it so strongly. Just be careful that it doesn’t result in your trying to cure death.”_

Will had certainly demonstrated that he couldn’t be trusted not to try. He sighed.

“Drachma for your thoughts?” asked Nico.

“You were right to get me out of the infirmary,” Will admitted. “Sometimes, I feel . . . I feel like I don’t have much to offer outside of it. And before you start, I know what you’re going to say. It’s just an irrational feeling, and I know I have more to offer, but healing is my gift. My thing. Losing Eliza on the table hurt in ways I can’t even explain, because that part of me that I take so much pride in . . . it didn’t work. Maybe that’s why I’m burying myself in being a healer now.”

Nico looked at him, eyes sad and serious, and nodded wordlessly. Somehow, Will knew he understood.

“Come on,” said Nico, taking his hand. “I’ve got one last place I want to show you.”

***

Café Veneto was one of those little Italian places that littered New York and was rarely noticed by anyone outside its devoted clientele. Apparently, one of those devoted clients was Nico. When he entered, a small, plump, gray-haired woman called his name.

“Nico! _Buona sera!_ ” She grabbed the son of Hades and kissed him on both cheeks. Amazingly, she survived the experience. In fact, Nico was smiling. He greeted her in Italian, and they spoke back and forth in the same language for a few minutes. 

Finally, Nico turned to Will. “Will, this is Signora Scarabelli. Call her Nonna.”

Will gave her his best charm-the-old-folks smile. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Nonna.”

“Any friend of Nico’s is welcome here,” Nonna told him in a thick Italian accent. “Please, take a seat. I will bring food.” She bustled off, and Nico led Will to a table near the back.

“I, um, took the liberty of ordering for us, if you don’t mind,” said Nico as they sat down. He had that shy look on his face again that said this was somehow showing Will affection.

Will winked at him. “As foolish as it may be, I trust you.”

Will noted that the seat Nico took was right next to the wall and offered a clear view of the rest of the restaurant, especially the doors. When Nico set down his backpack, the top was open and within easy reach, in case he had to draw his sword. Will supposed the paranoia came from a life of things trying to kill you.

Nonna brought them the best bread Will had ever tasted, and when the rest of the food came, it was absolutely delicious. Will knew as much about Italian food as the average American, which was basically that there were red sauces and white sauces and pasta and a lot of garlic. What they were eating broke the mold, which Will supposed meant it was authentic. There was pasta, but not a type Will had ever tried before, and meat that he couldn’t easily identify, some kind of poultry, perhaps. Green peas and mushrooms also featured prominently.

“This is fan-damn-tastic,” Will said after his first mouthful. “What is it?”

“Gnocchi with duck ragu,” Nico answered. “It’s a Venetian specialty. I came across this place a while back, and when I tasted this dish . . . I knew I’d had it before. It’s one of those little hints of my childhood, I think.” Nico took another bite, face awash with different emotions. “I-I wanted you to try it, because this is what ambrosia tastes like to me.”

If Will hadn’t known very well how Nico felt about public displays of affection, he’d have gotten up, grabbed Nico, and kissed him senseless right then and there. What Nico described as “hints” to his childhood were carefully hoarded, and he spoke of them only rarely, and only to Will. He was sharing this meal with Will as a form of intimacy and trust, and Will prayed he’d prove worthy of that trust.

“I love it,” he said, voice a little husky with emotion.

Nonna fussed over them as they ate and brought them some kind of lemon cake with cream and fresh strawberries for dessert. She spoke to Nico in Italian and Will in English, saying how handsome they were and such nice boys, like her own sons and grandsons.

“Nico looks just like my grandson Enrico, with the long hair and pretty eyes. He’s an artist, my Enrico. Graphic design. He makes a good living. Him and his boyfriend.” She sighed and looked at Will. “No great-grandchildren there, sad to say.”

Will gave her another smile. “Never say never, Nonna. My half-sister Kayla has two dads.”

Nonna chuckled and ruffled his hair. “You are a nice boy. You take care of Nico, yes?”

“I’ll do my best,” Will promised. She bustled off to dote on another of her regulars, and Will turned back to Nico. “She’s a sweetheart.”

“Yeah.” Nico sighed. “I like to think that maybe I had a grandmother like her once. I come here when I can, eat her food and talk to her in Italian and figure that’s kind of like having a grandma, right?”

“It’s exactly like having a grandma.” A brilliant idea occurred to Will. “Hey, how about I learn Italian? I already speak Spanish. Well, bad Spanish, but I did do an immersion program in elementary school. Italian’s not that far off it, right?”

Nico looked thoughtful. “Not too far off, no. Why not? Italian was once the language of medicine, you know.”

“Yeah, I do know.” Will ate the last of his cake. “We’ll definitely have to come here again. I’ll practice my Italian with Nonna.”

They left shortly after, with Nonna’s kisses on their cheeks.

***

Nico brought them back to camp near the Apollo cabin. It was quiet there, most of the campers being at the campfire.

“Thanks for today, Nico,” said Will, taking his boyfriend’s hand. “I needed it.”

“Of course you did.” Nico leaned back against the cabin, looking smug.

Far be it from Will not to wipe that look off his boyfriend’s face. He leaned down and kissed Nico, one of those slow-burning kisses that they’d only recently begun exploring. Nico made a little sound in his throat that switched off vital parts of Will’s brain, and he deepened the kiss, pulling Nico closer.

“Woohoo! Get it, Will!”

Will broke the kiss. “Mind killing Connor?” he muttered to Nico.

“Mind? I’d pay for the privilege.”

Will settled for flipping off Connor, who cackled as he disappeared into the Hermes cabin. Will really wanted to kiss Nico again, but it appeared that campers were returning to the cabins, including his own.

“Hey, Will. Hey, Nico.” Mia sounded unbearably smug. “Have a nice day?”

“I was kidnapped,” Will pointed out.

“It was for your own good, Dr. Workaholic,” said Jordan. “Oh, hey, Nico, we wanted to run another idea past you.”

“I’m not kidnapping anyone else.”

“You don’t have to,” said Mia. “A few of us were talking, and we were thinking . . . how about we hold a swing-dance party in honor of Eliza? Do you think that would be a good idea?”

As much as Will loved watching Nico fight (and he did, he really, really did), he loved even more to watch Nico’s gentler side come out while honoring the dead and comforting the grieving.

“I think that would be a perfect way to honor her,” Nico said. “I might even hit the floor. For Eliza.”

“Oh, you’d better save a dance for me.” Mia leaned in and pecked Nico’s cheek. “Thanks for taking care of our brother today, even after what Dad did.”

Oh, dear. “What did Dad do?” Will asked, not sure he wanted to know the answer.

Nico shook his head. “Ask Mia. I’m going to bed. Good night.” He turned to walk back to his cabin.

“Good night, my sweet boy,” Will called after him.


	8. It Don't Mean a Thing . . .

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason returns; a party is planned; Will needs brain bleach; Annabeth ain't got that swing; the Hermes cabin gets webbed; and awards get awarded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For some reason, this chapter just would not come together. Fortunately, there's just one left. Enjoy!

The final Saturday of camp arrived before anyone was really ready for it. Jason returned for the last week, much to Percy’s joy.

“Jason! Bro!”

“Percy! Bro!”

“Bro!”

“Bro!”

“For the gods’ sakes,” muttered Nico as the two other sons of the Big Three indulged in an overwrought bro hug.

Piper patted his shoulder. “Let them have their fun.”

Jason spotted Nico. “Nico! Li’l bro!”

Nico stepped into Piper’s shadow and disappeared before he could get bro’d any more. Luckily, he had a place to go in order to protect himself, as he was helping Jordan and Mia to organize Eliza’s memorial dance party. As they put it, Nico was in charge of the memorial, Mia was in charge of the dance, and Jordan was in charge of the party.

“Just to give you a heads-up, Nico,” said Mia at one point, “Dad said he had something ‘very important’ to discuss with Will. Now, it could be totally innocent, but . . .”

Jordan, sorting through records, gave a wicked laugh. “Dad? Innocent? Oh, Mia, my sweet, virtuous flower of a sister, those two words do not belong together.”

A dreadful thought occurred to Nico. “You – you don’t think Apollo’s going to try to Talk him, do you?”

“That could be . . . interesting,” said Mia, in an understatement akin to calling the war with Gaea “a little dustup.”

Jordan piled another record onto the stack he’d been working on. “I, for one, kind of want to know how Apollo knocked himself up with Kayla.”

Mia stilled for a moment, looking disturbed. “See, I’d give anything not to know that.”

Nico, feeling vague forebodings, wondered what was happening to his boyfriend right that moment.

***

The Hypnos cabin, Will reflected, had Lethe water. Losing his entire past might actually be a fair price for being able to forget this conversation.

“Dad? I really did not need to know that,” he said.

Apollo looked as if someone not needing to know what he was determined to impart to them was an alien concept. “But, son, although this particular body remains virginal, I do have extensive and varied sexual experience in my past. As you are on the cusp of entering your first sexual relationship-”

“No. Stop.” Will made a time-out sign. “Nico and I still need to talk about it, but I don’t think we’re ready for sex right now. There is no ‘cusp’ to speak of. Second, I don’t need to know about sex with girls, because I am gay. I’m not attracted to girls. Okay, maybe Piper, a little, but even Jordan said she’d be his gimme if he were in a relationship right now, along with Zayn Malik. Not that I want to fight Jason, of course.”

“But I feel I should give you the benefit of my experience,” Apollo protested. “You are my son, after all, and this is what human fathers and sons do, isn’t it? Fathers pass on their wisdom about sex and relationships to their virgin sons.”

Will didn’t know whether he wanted to laugh or cry. Really, it was kind of sweet that Apollo wanted to have this talk, but some of the details . . . he needed to forget them.

“I get that,” Will finally said. “And I appreciate that you’re trying to be a – a father to us now. It’s just that the relationship rules for gods are not exactly the same as they are for humans or demigods, and you can throw any rulebook out when it comes to dating Nico. We’ll figure it out. We will.”

Apollo sighed. “Well, if you insist. I do hope you’ll come to me if you have any questions.”

Will set a hand on his father’s shoulder. “I promise I will. And, actually, I do have one question for you. Not about sex, but about Nico.”

“I’d be delighted to enlighten you.”

Putting aside his amusement with Apollo’s phrasing, Will asked, “When . . . when Eliza was dying and I was trying to save her, you called to Nico. Why?”

Apollo looked a little surprised that Will would ask, as if he thought the answer was obvious. “Nico is an arbiter of life and death. Did you not realize that?”

It sounded vaguely sinister. “What do you mean?”

“Oh, this mortal brain makes it difficult to explain. He walks the boundary between life and death, and he has the authority to consign those along that barrier to the Underworld. Those mortals who have avoided death, for instance.” Apollo looked thoughtful. “Why he has that authority is a mystery. Hades’s relationship with his son is the subject of no small amount of gossip on Mount Olympus. At least, it was two years ago, when I was still there.”

Will realized he’d stopped walking. “What does the gossip say?”

“I’m not sure I should-”

“Dad.”

For a long moment, Apollo just looked at Will, as if mulling over whether he should divulge what he knew or not. Finally, he spoke. “Hades has placed a great deal of trust in his son. Nico has an unusual amount of authority in his father’s demesne. Very few gods have such a relationship with their children. The only time I have . . . was with Asclepius.”

Will suddenly remembered how the _eidolons_ had addressed Nico: “My prince.”

“What do you think it means?” he asked Apollo.

“Mind you, Hades has never confirmed or denied any of this, but he’s not the most social god, is he? But if I were to guess, I would say that Hades is preparing Nico for a new role, perhaps after his death. That’s the speculation on Olympus, anyway. One day, my son, if you play your cards right, you may find yourself the consort of a god.”

The thought was frankly disturbing. Will knew that Apollo was right as far as Nico’s relationship with Hades went. Jupiter was constrained in his relationship to Jason because of Juno, and Thalia had more or less rejected her heritage as a daughter of Zeus by choosing to lead the Hunters of Artemis. Poseidon kept a respectful distance from Percy’s family. Pluto couldn’t acknowledge Hazel’s existence, thanks to her escape from the Underworld. Which was, again, due to Nico’s authority over the dead.

It was strange to think of Nico as being Hades’s second-in-command, but it was increasingly looking like he was. And it was worrisome. The thing Will loved about Nico was his humanity. Gods weren’t known for that. He made a mental note to speak with Nico later, once he figured out what to say. “Hey, Nico, is your dad planning on turning you into a god, to your knowledge?” was just not a good conversational gambit.

Apollo seemed to pick up on Will’s contemplative mood as the two walked on, and the two didn’t speak for some minutes. They somehow found their way to the arena, where Nico had ended up after being yanked out of the Apollo cabin and roped into helping the Ares campers with their usual Saturday “fun” (read: slightly less likely to end up in the infirmary) sparring. Currently, he was squaring off against Xandra.

They were well suited as sparring partners. Xandra was about Nico’s height, maybe an inch or two taller, and they had similar builds, slim and layered with lean muscle. They had similar fighting styles, too, relying on agility, speed and intelligence rather than reach or raw strength. Will knew Nico liked practicing with her because while he almost always fought bigger, stronger opponents, Xandra forced him to hone skills he wasn’t used to using.

It was fun to watch. More than fun, really. Will loved watching Nico spar. He was a beautiful fighter, graceful and quick and strong. There was also the matter of his shirt being a little on the small side. It kept riding up, revealing Nico’s toned tummy.

Will might have been having too much fun watching.

Drew swished by, pressing a water bottle into his hand. “Thirsty, Will?”

“Yeah, th – Drew!” Will glared at her retreating, cackling back. He turned to Apollo, who was watching with an amused air. “She’s the worst.”

“But not wrong.” Apollo winked.

“Yeah, I’m going.” Will walked out of the arena.

***

Party time arrived at the amphitheater. The Apollo cabin had set up a jazz band, but they also had records on hand for recordings that, according to Jordan, there was no substitute for. Mia had just finished a short tutorial on swing dancing for the dance-impaired. 

Nico was asked to say a few words before they began. He hadn’t prepared any remarks; he trusted his instincts as a son of Hades to bring the right ones to him.

“We’re here today to celebrate Eliza Hanson, sister of the Apollo cabin,” he announced. “Eliza loved her family and friends, and she loved to dance. That’s what anyone who knew her would tell you. Her favorite thing to do was swing dancing. She even got me to dance with her once.” There were chuckles from the audience, and Nico let himself smile. “As you might imagine, that’s not the easiest thing to do. But I don’t know of anyone who could resist the chance to make her smile. Therefore, today, I’ll be dancing again in her honor. This is a time to remember, to let go of any self-consciousness, and enjoy her memory.” He turned to the band. “Austin? Hit it.”

The band launched into “It Don’t Mean a Thing if It Ain’t Got that Swing” with Dan and Carli on vocals, and the floor filled with dancers. Brigitte grabbed Nico, and he spun her, sending her multicolored dreadlocks flying. 

After dancing with Brigitte and Mia, Nico took a Coke break. He spotted Will taking Annabeth through some steps. As good a fighter as she was, she appeared to suffer from an unfortunate lack of rhythm. He also spotted Vitaly Sarkesian and Alyssa Belle Darling, who’d returned for the celebration.

Jason and Piper plopped down by him, fresh from the dance floor. “Nico! Li’l bro! How you been?” asked Jason.

Nico gave him a cool look. “Acceptable.”

“He practically raves.” Jason winked at Piper. “Must be doing pretty all right, eh?” 

Piper rolled her eyes and shared a Look with Nico that communicated many things, chief of which was that her boyfriend was, in fact, a doofus.

Jason turned his attention back to Nico. “Things going all right with Will? You two getting along okay? Anything you need to discuss about relationships?”

“There’s no need for you to try to Talk me, Jason,” said Nico, happy to have a chance to haul out his bombshell. “Your girlfriend already did.”

The look on Jason’s face was one that Nico would savor for days. “You . . . you let Piper Talk you? Pipes, did you Talk him?”

Piper nodded, perfectly sanguine. “Yep. He asked me to.”

Jason turned a hurt look on Nico. “You asked her to?”

“I had questions, and Piper’s easy to talk to about relationships. It was a good Talk, wasn’t it, Piper?”

“Indeed it was.”

Jason looked crestfallen, and Nico took pity on him. “You’re still a good bro. It’s just that your girlfriend is so much smarter.”

That did seem to help. “Yeah, she is.”

Annabeth, breathing hard, came off the dance floor. She looked determined and perplexed.

“It’s not the patterns that are giving me a hard time, it’s the rhythm,” she said. “I never could clap right.”

“It’s one of those things where you have to go on feelings, not analysis,” Piper told her. “Just feel the music.”

“Oh, shut up, McLean.” Annabeth sat down, disgruntled.

Percy came over. “Hey, why the long faces?”

Piper grinned. “Annabeth ain’t got that swing, and Jason just found out I gave Nico the Talk.”

That made Percy laugh. “Look on the bright side, Jase – you could maybe Talk Leo.”

“Not looking to get scorched, thanks.”

Leo and Calypso looked like they were having a great time. Leo had the rhythm, but he was still dancing like a complete dork. Calypso had picked up on swing dancing right away and was attempting to make him look like less of a dork, but it was an exercise in futility. Nonetheless, they both seemed perfectly happy.

Nico spotted Nicky Ray attempting to finagle Ryan into dancing. Unfortunately, he was not yet out of the “girls are yucky” stage. Nicky pouted as he ran off. Vitaly offered to partner her for the next dance, and the siblings hit the floor.

“Your new little sister is adorable,” Alyssa said to Will as they walked over to sit beside Nico. She was limping slightly. “Nico, I’ve gotta borrow your boyfriend. Turns out the summer intensive at the School of American Ballet is seriously intense.”

“As long as you return him undamaged,” said Nico.

They sat down, and Alyssa propped her left foot on Will’s lap. It was a proper dancer’s foot, scarred and hard with calluses. Will touched it gently, feeling the arch and blade.

“You’ve got some swelling in there, all right, but no stress fractures. Try taping it under your dance shoes. Vitaly can help. Let me see what I can do for those tendons.” Will began a foot massage, and Alyssa let out a perfectly indecent moan.

“Gods, Will, if you were straight, I’d climb you like a tree right now,” she sighed.

Will turned bright red. “Alyssa!”

“Well, I would. Hell, if your boyfriend couldn’t take me down two out of three, I might try it anyway.” She winked at Nico.

He didn’t mind. He knew Will had absolutely no interest in girls (save for Piper, but that hardly counted), and it kind of felt good, knowing how desirable his boyfriend was. Will had chosen to be with Nico. For almost a year now, Will had chosen him.

Hyun, one of Piper’s sisters, ran over as Will finished with Alyssa’s foot. “Okay, Will, enough playing with Ares girls. You promised me a dance!” She grabbed him and dragged him back onto the floor.

As Nico’s eyes followed his boyfriend, he caught Jason looking at him. “What?”

“You really love him, don’t you?” Jason asked, a little smile tugging at his mouth.

Nico flushed and fiddled with his ring. Fortunately, Alyssa came to his rescue.

“Dance with me, you little meanie,” she demanded as she pulled her shoe back on.

The afternoon sun waned as they danced. This celebration, of a girl whose life had been lost, was Nico’s domain, and he let himself relax and enjoy it. There were a few short breaks between sets, and in those silences, Eliza’s friends and siblings took the mic and spoke of their memories of her. Then the music would start again, and Nico found new partners and watched his friends fly by. Even Annabeth eventually got the beat. Finally, as evening fell, everyone crowded the floor for a final dance to “Sing, Sing, Sing.”

The celebration wrapped up, but before Nico could leave for his cabin, Will caught his hand. “Come by the Apollo cabin first. I’ve got something for you.”

“He’s got something for you, Nico. Woo!” crowed Cecil. Mysteriously, a skeleton hand grabbed his ankle, and he fell on his face.

“Let’s go,” said Nico.

At the Apollo cabin, Will went to Eliza’s old bunk and picked up a jewelry box. “Amanda Hanson sent some of Eliza’s things to us. This was earmarked for you. There’s a note that goes with it.” He handed the box and the note over to Nico.

Nico opened the note.

_Dear Nico,_

_Thank you again for everything you did for me and for Eliza. I can’t tell you how much of a comfort it’s been. I’m doing what you told me to do. I used Eliza’s life insurance money to start a scholarship fund for kids who can’t afford to go to her school. And every day, I look for any opportunity I can to live valiantly in her memory._

_Eliza’s dance costumes and shoes have been donated to the school, and her other belongings, save for the ones I can’t let go of, have been given away to charities or your camp, since I know some kids arrive there with very little. I couldn’t think of what to do with this necklace, though. It’s a family heirloom for a line that will now die with me. I don’t want to sell it. I feel there must be someone else out there who will value it as much as Eliza did. I don’t know who that might be, but I have the strangest feeling you’ll know, if not now, then someday. Please, keep it for now, and when you find who it should go to, give it to them._

_All My Love,_

_Amanda Hanson, Eliza’s Mom ___

__Nico opened the box. Inside was a beautiful, antique, filigreed cross. He touched it gently. It resonated with him. Death, resurrection, redemption._ _

__He nodded and closed the box. Yes, it was right that he should be its caretaker. He knew his father kept, in his vaults, some ancient Christian treasures. This would be his until he found the person who should have it._ _

__“I’ll write to her, let her know I understand, and I’ll do what she asked,” he said. “And I’ll thank her for trusting me with this.”_ _

__Will smiled gently. “I knew she was right. Come on, I’ll walk you to your cabin.”_ _

__Nico didn’t manage to get out of the Apollo cabin without being hugged a half-dozen times. He was getting used to how demonstrative Apollo’s children were, and the good thing was, they’d managed to desensitize him to being touched enough that he wasn’t automatically flinching and/or summoning skeletons whenever someone grabbed his arm these days. Besides, he really liked them. They were an open-hearted bunch, and they’d accepted him as one of their own, thanks to his relationship with Will._ _

__He and Will walked, hand in hand, to the Hades cabin. “I think today was a success,” Nico mused._ _

__“Well, everyone had a great time, and I have really sore feet, so, yeah.”_ _

__“You know what I mean.”_ _

__Will sobered a bit. “It was a good way to remember her. It’s good to remember her, period. Even when it hurts.”_ _

__Nico sighed. He could feel Will’s grief, as he had ever since Eliza had died. It ebbed and flowed, as mourning always did. But it was a healthy grief, not held in or turned to anger._ _

__Off to one side, he caught a glimpse of Sherman Yang kissing Miranda goodnight outside the Demeter cabin. Percy and Annabeth were having a quiet, intimate chat outside the Poseidon cabin, and Jason was just leaving Piper after kissing her goodnight. Nyssa and her girlfriend, Kyla from the Athena cabin, were holding hands as they walked across the green._ _

__“Love is in the air,” Will noted._ _

__“As long as Cupid isn’t.”_ _

__Will laughed. “I still have a soft spot for him. He made me chase you, after all.”_ _

__“He’s still a-”_ _

__Will cut him off with a kiss. “Shh. We don’t want to make him mad.”_ _

__Nico didn’t care about Cupid being mad, but he did want to kiss Will again. So he did._ _

__***_ _

__Will walked out of the Apollo cabin to bright sunlight the last day of camp. It was going to be another lovely day. The sky was clear, the air was cool and fresh, the lake was sparkling, Festus was dozing outside the Hephaestus cabin, half of the Hermes campers were suspended in what looked like spider webs outside the Athena cabin –_ _

__Zeus on a _crutch_._ _

__Will sighed. “Is anyone hurt?” he asked._ _

__“I’ve got a wedgie to end all wedgies,” Cecil volunteered, hanging three feet off the ground._ _

__“Is there any sense in my asking what happened?”_ _

__A muffled noise came from somewhere near Cecil. Will, curious, walked over and discovered Connor Stoll, practically cocooned and wearing a pair of underpants on his head._ _

__“ ‘Jockey For Her,’” Will read. “Doesn’t seem like your brand, somehow, Connor.”_ _

__Connor made a few more muffled noises and wriggled in his silk bonds._ _

__“It’s my brand, actually,” came Annabeth’s voice. She walked up and stood beside Will, looking down at her captive. “We had a feeling Connor et al would be coming for us since we trounced the Hermes cabin at Capture the Flag the other day-”_ _

__“Hey! That wasn’t a trounce! It was barely a ding,” Cecil protested._ _

__Annabeth ignored him. “So we laid a trap. Sure enough, they decided to stage Ye Olde Panty Raid. I applied a few of the things I learned while fighting Arachne, and voila. You can keep that pair, Connor. They’re old and gross, anyway.”_ _

__Connor glared daggers. Will decided everything was under control and went for his morning cup of coffee._ _

__By the time he’d finished his coffee, the Hermes campers had been let out. After copious pictures had been taken, of course. The morning was proceeding fairly normally. Will glanced down toward the lake where, like clockwork, Nike camper Thom was racing Percy out to the 50-meter buoy and back to land, as he had every morning Percy had been at camp during the summer. He never won, of course, but far be it from a Nike kid to give up because of a little thing like that._ _

__Will thought back to a conversation he’d had with Percy earlier in the summer, before the battle. Nico had been struggling with a string of nightmares, and Will knew they were about Tartarus. Nico wouldn’t talk about it, though, so Will had cornered Percy. His answer to Will’s query had been both thoughtful and painful._ _

__“It’s not something that has to do with your relationship with Nico, Will,” Percy had said. “It’s just . . . there are things about that place that you can’t put into words. There’s no way to express what it does to you. When he and I and Annabeth talk about it, we at least have a common reference. We can understand the things no one can say. But he still needs your support.”_ _

__It had been a hard pill to swallow, but Will understood. He was glad to help any way he could. Nico had recovered to a remarkable degree; he was no longer the walking wounded he’d been last year at this time. But he still had a long road ahead of him. Will intended to be by his side for all of it._ _

__After breakfast, Will went down to the arena. While at Camp Jupiter, he’d learned the fine art of throwing knives. He liked it. There was something satisfying about the force of it, and he’d found he was more accurate with the knives than with his bow. Especially since he was using Hephaestus cabin-made Celestial bronze knives enchanted to always hit point-first. The physical activity and the concentration it took were good for Will’s state of mind. The last day of camp was always an emotional mess, and Will had learned self-care techniques to stave off headaches._ _

__“You’re good with those.”_ _

__Will turned to find that Jason had slipped into the arena at some point. He tensed inwardly. He liked Jason, he really did, but the son of Jupiter was downright intimidating, especially when you were dating his adopted baby brother._ _

__“Um, thanks,” was the best Will could come up with._ _

__“You’re over-rotating in the shoulder a little, though. It means you’re having to compensate for accuracy, and it’s less efficient. You’ll get tired faster. Here.” Jason took Will’s arm and moved it into position. “Feel that?”_ _

__One side effect of being a healer was having a good sense of your own body mechanics. Will felt the difference immediately. “Yeah. Let me try it.”_ _

__His next throw was perfect. He tried another, concentrating on the change Jason had made. It was definitely better. “Thanks. I’m not the best archer and I’m hopeless with a sword – just ask Nico, he’ll tell you – so it’s nice to have a backup skill. Even for us non-warriors.”_ _

__“Yeah, well, we warriors are often in desperate need of healers, so it’s important for you to keep yourself intact.”_ _

__Will tried another throw. There was no doubt about it; Jason’s advice had worked. “You Romans have some mad skills.”_ _

__Jason chuckled. “Yeah, especially Reyna. She’s fairly deadly with throwing knives. Deadly with everything, really.”_ _

__“I confess I kind of steered clear of her at Camp Jupiter. She’s a little scary.”_ _

__“Well, she’s protective of Nico.”_ _

__“Not like you, then.”_ _

__Will heard the edge in his voice, which he had not meant to be there. But it got a little tiresome when you knew there were at least nine extremely powerful demigods (and one extremely violent satyr) who were ready to bury you if they ever thought you did their friend wrong. Will had no intention of ever doing Nico wrong, and he resented the implication that he might._ _

__Jason plucked the latest throwing knife from Will’s hand. “Look, Will, the truth is, I came here to talk to you.”_ _

__“What about?” Will asked warily._ _

__“Nico. And no, this isn’t going to be a Shovel Speech.”_ _

__A little of Will’s internal guard went down. “Really?”_ _

__“Really.” Jason crossed his arms and looked thoughtful for a moment before speaking. “You know I was with Nico at Salona when Cupid forced him out of the closet, right?” Will nodded. “That’s . . . something that’s stuck with me. He started bleeding emotions, and honestly? I’m not sure I’d have had the same strength he did to admit to something he was that ashamed of. He was terrified in a way that I’ve never personally experienced.”_ _

__“It can be hard enough coming out even when you know you’ll be accepted by the people who love you,” Will said softly._ _

__Jason’s blue gaze was penetrating. Will fought the urge to straighten his glasses. That seemed like a girlfriend’s job._ _

__“I know I’ve been protective of him,” Jason finally admitted._ _

__“Overprotective.”_ _

__“Obnoxiously overprotective, according to my girlfriend. Don’t forget the adverb.”_ _

__Will chuckled. “Not likely to.”_ _

__“But the thing is, you’ve been good for him. Really, really good for him. He’s so much happier now, he’s hardly even the same guy. The way you two look at each other – it’s the way I look at Piper.” He set a hand on Will’s shoulder. “So here’s my Shovel Speech: If anyone ever tries to hurt the two of you, I will personally bury them.”_ _

__Somewhere in the back of Will’s mind, thunder rumbled. Jason Grace was on their side, and that was a good thing to know._ _

__Will smiled at him. “I don’t doubt it one bit.”_ _

__***_ _

__Camp awards were always the last item on the agenda before camp was officially over for the summer. Nico didn’t care for them, not least because he wasn’t allowed to sit by Will. He sulked between Percy and Jason and glared halfheartedly at Malcolm and Valentina, who were presenting._ _

__“Outstanding Creature Feature this year goes to Meg McCaffrey, for introducing us all, especially Sherman Yang, to Peaches the _karpos_ ,” Malcolm announced somewhere around the middle of the awards. “Come get your award, Meg!”_ _

__The crowd cheered. Meg collected her award. Sherman made a rude gesture._ _

__Valentina stepped forward. “Our next award is for Best Couple. This year, it goes to – dramatic pause – Will Solace and Nico di Angelo!”_ _

__Nico sat, stunned, as everyone cheered and Will made his way down from the stands. The entire Apollo cabin was on their feet._ _

__Jason nudged him. “Get up there. I voted for you two, di Angelo!”_ _

__It was much worse than getting his Camper of the Year award the previous year. This was about his relationship with Will, which was private. Yes, he was getting more comfortable with holding hands and showing affection in public, but not out on display like this. Nonetheless, Nico forced himself to his feet and went up to stand beside Will._ _

__Will made some remarks that Nico didn’t really process. He did process that he was holding onto Will’s hand, probably too tightly._ _

__And then the crowd started chanting. “Kiss, kiss, kiss!”_ _

__Nico looked at Will. He didn’t know what his face looked like, but it was enough to make Will’s smile fade. It returned after a moment, and Will leaned over to the mic again._ _

__“Yeah, no. Deal with it!” The crowd made disappointed noises, but Will ignored them and pulled Nico over to where he’d been sitting before. Jason and Percy made room for the extra person._ _

__“You all right?” Will murmured as soon as they were safely sitting down._ _

__Nico took a deep breath. “Yeah. Sorry.”_ _

__“You have nothing to be sorry for,” Will told him. “I didn’t really want to perform for those idiots, anyway.”_ _

__Nico looked at his boyfriend. At that moment, he felt like he could kiss Will and not care who was watching. “Thank you.”_ _

__Best Prank was awarded to Annabeth, who gleefully accepted it amidst the Hermes cabin’s boos. Finally, it came time for Camper of the Year._ _

__“This won’t be our first posthumous Camper of the Year. I wish it could be our last, though,” said Malcolm. “This year, the laurel goes to Eliza Hanson. There’s nothing braver than doing your duty in the face of danger. Let this be a reminder to everyone that you don’t have to be a fighter to be courageous. We have Eliza’s father with us, and Apollo, we’d like you to accept this on behalf of your daughter. And a round of applause for our healers, without whom we’d probably all be dead several times over!”_ _

__The roar was deafening as Apollo accepted his daughter’s award._ _


	9. The Talk (II)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico has a birthday party with surprise guests; the Seven split up for the fall; and a Talk is finally had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally got this one done! There will be one more installment of this series, hopefully coming soon.

Before they left for the winter, Nico’s friends gathered around Hestia’s hearth with him. Since he didn’t know when he’d been born, the last day of camp had been designated his official birthday. Jason, Piper, Percy, Annabeth, Leo, Calypso, Will and, for some reason, Apollo, were all in attendance. A cake had been procured from the lunch harpies, and a number of presents waited to be opened. Nico didn’t really see the point of having a birthday party, but had grudgingly acquiesced to his friends’ wishes on the condition that it be a small gathering.

“But before cake or presents . . .” Annabeth said mysteriously.

A veil of Mist fell, revealing Hazel and Frank. Nico’s semi-bad mood evaporated instantly. Hazel squealed and ran to him, and he stood up to catch her in his arms.

“Why are you here?” he asked, voice muffled by his sister’s hair.

“You didn’t think I’d miss your birthday, did you?” She squeezed him again before letting him go. “Besides, I got you a present.”

Having his sister there helped Nico suffer through the ritual bad singing of “Happy Birthday” and the cutting of the black-frosted cake. He decided to start opening presents with Leo’s offering, as it was the one that made him the most nervous. Not that he disliked Leo, but you just never knew what the little maniac was going to do.

As it turned out, though, Leo’s gift was eminently practical. It was a duffel bag that was considerably bigger on the inside.

“Calypso mentioned you’ve borrowed a Backpack of Holding a couple of times. This works like those, with the added benefit of being a Leo design,” Leo explained. “It’s waterproof, fireproof, basically indestructible, and if you have to take it through security at an airport or something, it’ll look like it’s full of clothes and stuff. Calypso embroidered the skull on the front.”

Nico admired her handiwork. “That’s – wow. Thanks, Leo, this is perfect. Thanks, too, Calypso.”

Annabeth’s present was, interestingly enough, a graphic novel. “It’s the first novel of Neil Gaiman’s _Sandman_ series. I can hook you up with the rest of them when you ask, because trust me, you will. They’re amazing. You’ll love Death.”

“He acts more like Morpheus,” said Will.

Annabeth shrugged in acknowledgement. “True.”

Piper gave him a couple of movie passes “for a date with your honey.” She winked at Will. Nico rolled his eyes at “honey,” but thanked Piper for the passes. Jason gave him a Ghost Rider t-shirt, which led to Leo speculating enthusiastically about a Hephaestus-cabin motorcycle.

Nico was slightly terrified. Judging from the looks on everyone else’s faces, he wasn’t the only one.

“This is more of a presentation than a gift,” said Percy as he handed over a small box. Inside was a leather-thong necklace with two beads on it. “We all thought it was about time you had one of these. There’s one bead for your first whole summer at camp, and also a quest bead, because of the thing with the big statue.”

Nico found the gesture unexpectedly touching. He hadn’t cared about the camp beads, or at least he thought he hadn’t. But this was a visible sign that yes, he belonged.

“Thanks,” he said. “This is – it’s nice. I appreciate it.” Will helped him put it on. A warm feeling, not unlike that he experienced when the Athena Parthenos had been set down on Half-Blood Hill, filled his chest.

Hazel handed him her present next. “Frank was actually the one to suggest this, by the way.”

“Okay, now I’m scared,” said Nico. Hazel thumped him, and he laughed.

The gift turned out to be the Mythomagic Asiatic Expansion Deck. Nico laughed again. “That’s perfect. Is this your way of challenging me, Frank?”

Frank gave him a grin worthy of a son of Mars. “I’m ready to throw down if you are.”

“Consider it on, Bulldog.”

Will’s gift was last. It was an iPod loaded with some of Nico’s favorite music, including Janis Joplin, the Rolling Stones, the Ramones and Nirvana.

“A little trivia: I gave Keith Richards the guitar hook for ‘Satisfaction.’ I have to say, it was one of my better ideas,” said Apollo.

Will stared at him. “You’ve been sitting on that little factoid this whole time?”

Apollo looked at him. “Son, please. You know the story about how he woke up to find he’d somehow written it down in his sleep? Why did you not see my fingerprints all over that? I’m embarrassed for you.”

Will heaved an exasperated sigh and rolled his eyes. “Ladies and gentlemen, my father.”

Percy looked around. “I can’t believe this has been my last summer at camp. It’s just . . . weird. Do I have to grow up now?”

Jason looked at Annabeth. “Too easy?”

She nodded. “Way too easy.”

In spite of the banter, there was an edge of disquiet. They all felt something was ending.

“But we’ll all still get together, right? The _Argo II_ crew?” Leo asked. “‘Cause we gotta.”

“Of course we will,” said Annabeth. “I mean, Percy and I will be in New Rome, Hazel and Frank and Reyna will be doing the Twelfth Legion thing, and Jason and Piper will be in California, too, so that’s most of us right there. We’ve just got to get you and Nico there, maybe Coach, too.”

Will raised a hand. “What about us groupies?”

“Groupies welcome, of course,” said Leo, slinging an arm around Calypso.

Calypso narrowed her eyes at Leo. “Don’t you dare start calling me a groupie.” Leo looked unrepentant.

Jason stood up and stretched. “We should probably get a move on. Piper and I are flying out to California tomorrow.”

“Airplane, or no airplane?” Frank asked.

Jason laughed. “Airplane. There’s no way I could ride the winds that far.”

“Will? Dad?” It was Nicky Ray, who was shyly approaching the group. “I’ve got to go, and I-I wanted to say goodbye.”

Will stood and hugged his little sister. “I’m so glad you came, Nicky. See you at winter break?”

“Yeah.” Nicky turned and accepted a hug from Apollo. “Are you going to be here, too?”

“I don’t know, I really don’t,” Apollo admitted. “I still have a quest of my own. But I hope to see you again, little daughter. I love you.”

“I love you, too, Dad. And you, Will.” She let go of Apollo.

Will kissed her forehead. “I love you, too, sis. Take care of yourself, and if you need to talk to me, I’m just an Iris message away.”

She left, and Will slipped his hand into Nico’s.

“Who all is staying here?” Percy asked.

“Mostly the usual suspects,” said Nico. “Plus Big Ben.”

“Yeah, he kind of got thrown out of his last school,” Will put in. “Sherman and Ellis seem to be settling him down, though. He was only in my infirmary twice last week.”

Jason clapped him on the shoulder. “You’re a good man, Dr. Solace.”

Nico winced. “Don’t call him ‘doctor,’ please; it goes to his head.”

Jason laughed again and pulled Nico into a bro hug. “Don’t be a stranger, li’l bro.”

The others (save for Leo, who was staying) also subjected Nico to a round of hugs.

“And if you need us, for the gods’ sakes, don’t make your boyfriend call us again,” Annabeth admonished him.

“In my defense, the last time he called you, Will wasn’t my boyfriend yet,” said Nico.

Annabeth whapped him upside the head for that. “Don’t get smart. Stay in touch. We love you.”

“I, um . . . Iloveyouguystoo,” Nico muttered.

Piper kissed his cheek. “You know who to call if you have relationship questions. Or if you just want to chat. Do you ever want to just chat?”

“No.”

“Didn’t think so. Call me, anyway.”

Hazel hugged him last. “I love you, big brother. Come out to Camp Jupiter if you can, okay?”

“I will. I promise, if I can, I’ll get there.” He squeezed her tight. “I love you, little sister.”

They all left, and Will and Nico were alone.

Will tugged Nico’s hand. “Come on. Let’s walk.”

They made their way to their usual quiet place and sat down in the late-afternoon sun.

“There’s a Talk we need to have,” said Will.

“Yeah.” Nico twisted his ring. “Um, Piper . . . she said that she and Jason decided to – to wait until they’re seventeen. For sex.”

Will nodded. “I remember her mentioning that when the senior counselors were planning out our cabin sex talks this summer.”

“Do you – do you think it would be a good idea?” Nico’s stomach was attempting to tie itself in knots.

“It could be. I mean, it would take some pressure off.”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah.”

Nico kept fiddling with his ring. “But only if you want to wait that long.”

“It’s not about what I want, Nico. It’s about what’s best for us.” Will looked down at his hands. “I want you.”

“I . . . I want you, too.” Nico swallowed. “A lot. I just . . . I’m not ready. At all. I mean, half the things in that stuff Piper gave me sound, well, kind of gross.” Will burst into his sunny laugh. Nico’s cheeks heated. “Don’t laugh at me!”

Will visibly brought himself under control. “I’m not laughing at you, I swear. It’s just that I totally get what you’re saying. Sex is kind of a weird thing, when you think about it.”

Nico laughed a little, just out of relief. “Yeah. But I think I’d like to try it with you. When we’re ready.”

Will was blushing, too. It occurred to Nico that this might be just as awkward for his boyfriend as it was for himself. It was a new thought. Will had grown up in a world where being gay was, if not accepted by everyone, at least far more acceptable than it had been in Nico’s time. But he still didn’t find navigating a relationship easy. For some reason, that helped.

“I think seventeen is a good idea,” Will said. “For now . . . keep things above the waist?”

“That sounds right.” Something inside Nico relaxed a little.

Oddly, Will looked more relaxed, too. “Then that’s what we’ll do. We’ll table this until we’re seventeen, and then we’ll see. Okay?”

Instead of answering verbally, Nico leaned up and kissed his boyfriend. Will wrapped an arm around him, and Nico leaned on his shoulder.

After a moment, Will spoke again. “There was one other thing I wanted to talk to you about.”

“What’s that?”

“I spoke with my mom yesterday, and guess what? She and Bette have decided to get married.”

Nico snuggled into Will a little further. “Congratulations to them.”

Will kissed his hair. “And I want you to be my wedding date.”

“What?” Nico sat bolt upright. “You . . . when?”

“Next fall, right after camp gets out.” Will looked at him. “Please, Nico. She really wants to meet you, and my mom’s great, she really is. And I – I want you to see where I came from.”

The idea of meeting Will’s family was daunting, to say the least, but Nico could see it was important to Will. And if it was that important to Will . . .

“All right. Provided there’s not an apocalypse happening next year around this time, I’ll be your wedding date.”

Will chuckled. “What are the odds of that?”

“Don’t tempt the Fates.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

Nico looked up at his boyfriend’s face. Will was so handsome, with his shaggy blond waves, tanned skin and blue, blue eyes. He got plenty of appreciative looks, glances and outright stares at camp.

_But he’s mine, all mine._

“So,” said Nico, “we’ve got about fifteen minutes until dinner.”

Will gave him a lazy grin. “We do.”

“Want to make out?”

“Love to.”

Nico pulled himself into Will’s lap, and as their lips came together, thought about how very lucky he was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. If you haven't read Gaiman's Sandman, you have to. You. Have. To.
> 
> 2\. Yes, I think Nico would like Nirvana. Sue me.
> 
> 3\. Thanks to everyone who read, kudos'd and commented. I truly appreciate you all.


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